Bacteria detection based on its blockage effect on silicon nanopore array

Bacteria detection plays an important role in the guarantee of food and water safety. This work proposed a new sensing strategy for the rapid detection of bacteria based on its blockage effect on nanopore array, which was prepared from electrochemically etched silicon. With the assistance of microfluidic technology, the nanopore array attached with Escherichia coli antibody can selectively and rapidly capture E. coli bacteria, resulting in the decrease of pore accessibility. The signal of pore blockage can be measured by in-direct Fourier Transformed Reflectometric Interference Spectroscopy (FT-RIS). The pore blockage signal has a linear relationship with the logarithm of bacterial density in aqueous sample within the range from 103 to 107 cfu ml−1. Due to the specific interaction between the antibody and target bacteria, only the E. coli sample displayed significant pore blockage effect, whereas the non-target bacteria, Nox and P17, almost did not show any pore blockage effect. The strategy established in this work might be pervasively applied in the rapid detection of target bacteria and cell in a label-free manner.