Seminar: Nano-devices for DNA sequencing

Abstract: Biological molecules, such as DNA, possess characteristic structural properties that typically vary on the nanometer and sub-nanometer scale. Nano-devices with active sensing regions of comparable magnitudes are therefore ideally suited to probe and analyze such bio-molecules. On the example of DNA sequencing, I will illustrate how two-dimensional (2D) materials can be utilized to electrically sense different nucleotides (DNA bases). The electronic structures of 2D materials make them ideal sensors and quantum transport plays a key role in obtaining a suitable signal output. Nano-architectures to be discussed in this seminar include graphene nanogaps [1,2], nanopores in bilayer graphene [3], hybrid MoS2 monolayers [4], as well as nanopores in both a hybrid graphene/hexagonal boron nitride sheet [5] and in MXene [6]. Finally, an outlook will be given to the prospect of applying nanopores in protein sensing [7].

References:

[1] J. Prasongkit, A. Grigoriev, B. Pathak, R. Ahuja & R.H. Scheicher, Transverse Conductance of DNA Nucleotides in a Graphene Nanogap from First Principles, Nano Lett. 11, 1941 (2011)

[2] R.G. Amorim, A.R. Rocha & R.H. Scheicher, Boosting DNA Recognition Sensitivity of Graphene Nanogaps through Nitrogen Edge Functionalization, J. Phys. Chem. C 120, 19384 (2016)

[3] J. Prasongkit, G.T. Feliciano, A.R. Rocha, Y. He, T. Osotchan, R. Ahuja & R.H. Scheicher, Theoretical assessment of feasibility to sequence DNA through interlayer electronic tunneling transport at aligned nanopores in bilayer graphene, Sci. Rep. 5, 17560 (2015)

[4] G. Sivaraman, F.A.L. de Souza, R.G. Amorim, W.L. Scopel, M. Fyta & R.H. Scheicher, Electronic Transport along Hybrid MoS2 Monolayers, J. Phys. Chem. C 120, 23389 (2016)

[5] F.A.L. de Souza, R.G. Amorim, W.L. Scopel & R.H. Scheicher, Electrical detection of nucleotides via nanopores in a hybrid graphene/h-BN sheet, Nanoscale 9, 2207 (2017)

[6] J. Prasongkit, S. Jungthawan, R.G. Amorim & R.H. Scheicher, Single-molecule DNA sequencing using two-dimensional Ti2C(OH)2 MXene nanopores: A first-principles investigation, Nano Res. 15, 9843 (2022)

[7] S. Cardoch, N. Timneanu, C. Caleman & R.H. Scheicher, Distinguishing between Similar Miniproteins with Single-Molecule Nanopore Sensing: A Computational Study, ACS Nanosci. Au 2, 119 (2022)