Development in the fabrication of oxide nanowires used in biosensors

Detection and quantification of biological species are critical to many areas of healthcare and life science, either intending to diagnose diseases or discover and screen new medicine molecules. Central to detection are the biosensors that generate a signal associated with the selective recognition of a species of interest. Nanostructures, such as oxide nanowires with large surface-to-volume ratios, offer new and unique opportunities to develop novel biosensors. However, some challenges are associated with the fabrication of oxide nanowires, including poor quality of produced nanowires and high production costs. Such fabrication issues have limited the industrial development of nanowire-based biosensors. This proposed research targets a simple, scalable, and cost-effective approach for fabricating oxide nanowires used in biosensors. The proposed approach can potentially be a promising method for fabricating high-quality nanowires as it has demonstrated success in producing high-quality titanium dioxide nanowires. This approach also reduces the cost of mass manufacturing by eliminating the high-cost equipment.

Faculty Supervisor:

Guo-zhen Zhu

Student:

Partner:

Springboard Atlantic Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Nanotechnology; Advanced Manufacturing; Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

University of Manitoba

Program: