Fabrication of Inorganic-Organic Nanopores (Hybrid Nanopore Systems)
The organic-inorganic pore project, in collaboration with Dr. John Kasianowicz's group at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, is focused on the development of arrays of nanopores which are made up of protein pores fixed within solid state pores. These organic/inorganic hybrid pores will potentially allow a defined array of multiple well-characterized low-noise biological and synthetic pores for parallel analysis and screening of various proteins or macromolecules. To accomplish this, a self assembled monolayer (SAM) is depoisted onto a solid state nanopore to encourage lipid bilayer formation over its pore, with in a custom chemically inert, sealed (air free), and quickly assembled flow cell. Once the bilayer is established, protein monomer are injected and allowed to self assemble and insert into the lipid bilayer. These hybrid pores should show enhanced signal to noise ratio as well as more robust experiment durations as compared to standard lipid bilayer suspending apertures.
Collaborators: Dr. John Kasianowicz @ NIST
