Nanostructural Engineering of Nanoporous Anodic Alumina for Biosensing Applications

Materials

Josep Ferré-Borrull¹  Josep Pallarès²  Gerard Mac໚s² 

[1] Nano-electronic and Photonic Systems Group, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda Països Catalans, 26, Tarragona 43007, Spain;

关键词: nanoporous anodic alumina;    nanoengineering;    pore modulation;    RIfS;    photonic barcodes;    rugate filters;    distributed Bragg reflectors;    biosensing;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma7075225

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Modifying the diameter of the pores in nanoporous anodic alumina opens new possibilities in the application of this material. In this work, we review the different nanoengineering methods by classifying them into two kinds: in situ and ex situ. Ex situ methods imply the interruption of the anodization process and the addition of intermediate steps, while in situ methods aim at realizing the in-depth pore modulation by continuous changes in the anodization conditions. Ex situ methods permit a greater versatility in the pore geometry, while in situ methods are simpler and adequate for repeated cycles. As an example of ex situ methods, we analyze the effect of changing drastically one of the anodization parameters (anodization voltage, electrolyte composition or concentration). We also introduce in situ methods to obtain distributed Bragg reflectors or rugate filters in nanoporous anodic alumina with cyclic anodization voltage or current. This nanopore engineering permits us to propose new applications in the field of biosensing: using the unique reflectance or photoluminescence properties of the material to obtain photonic barcodes, applying a gold-coated double-layer nanoporous alumina to design a self-referencing protein sensor or giving a proof-of-concept of the refractive index sensing capabilities of nanoporous rugate filters.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.