Nanoporous membrane for biosensing applications

Synthetic nanoporous membranes have been used in numerous biosensing applications, such as glucose detection, nucleic acid detection, bacteria detection, and cell-based sensing. The increased surface affinity area and enhanced output sensing signals make the nanoporous membranes increasingly attractive as biosensing platforms. Surface modification techniques can be used to improve surface properties for realizable bioanalyte immobilization, conjugation, and detection. Combined with realizable detection techniques such as electrochemical and optical detection methods, nanoporous membrane–based biosensors have advantages, including rapid response, high sensitivity, and low cost. In this paper, an overview of nanoporous membranes for biosensing application is given. Types of nanoporous membranes including polymer membranes, inorganic membranes, membranes with nanopores fabricated using nanolithography, and nanotube-based membranes are introduced. The fabrication techniques of nanoporous membranes are also discussed. The key requirements of nanoporous membranes for biosensing applications include surface functionality for bioanalyte immobilization, biocompatibility, mechanical and chemical stability, and anti-biofouling capability. The recent advances and development of nanoporous membrane–based biosensors are discussed, especially for the sensing mechanism and surface functionalization strategies. Finally, the challenges and future development of nanoporous membrane for biosensing applications are discussed.