Paper Sensor Coated with a Poly(carboxybetaine)-Multiple DOPA Conjugate via Dip-Coating for Biosensing in Complex Media

Cellulose paper is an ideal diagnostic platform for low-cost, easily disposable and lightweight implementation, but requires surface modification to achieve detection with high sensitivity and specificity in complex media. In this work, a polymer-catechol conjugate containing a superhydrophilic nonfouling poly(carboxylbetaine) (pCB) and four surface-binding l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) groups, pCB-(DOPA)4, were applied onto a paper-based sensor surface via a simple “graft-to” immersion process to render the surface with both nonfouling and protein functionalizable properties. This dip-coating technique is effective, convenient and robust as compared to the “graft-from” techniques reported previously with similar nonfouling properties. The coated paper sensor showed both increased analyte diffusion rate and improved sensitivity of glucose detection in human blood serum. The capability of pCB-(DOPA)4-modified paper sensor for specific antigen–antibody detection was demonstrated via the covalent immobilization of bovine serum albumin antibody (anti-BSA) and fibrinogen antibody (anti-Fg) onto the pCB-coated surface via simple 1-ethyl-3-(3-(dimethylamino)propyl)-carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS) chemistry.