Sol–gel films for DNA microarray applications

Sol–gel derived (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane–tetramethoxysilane ((CH3O)3SiCH2CH2CH2NH2–Si(OCH3)4) hybrid films are shown to have properties that make the films suitable for DNA microarray applications. The essential characteristics of the films are discussed on the basis of binding of aminated 25-mer oligonucleotide DNA to the films via 1,4-phenylenediisothiocyanate linkering. The binding of DNA onto the films is shown to depend on films' composition having an optimum where the binding is substantially superior compared to commercial analogues. The relevant properties of the films are characterized by AFM, FTIR and MALDI-TOF MS measurements.