Rapid detection and identification of bacteria with graphene field effect transistors and peptide probes

A method for the label-free detection of bacteria, comprising:

• fabricating a defect-free graphene monolayer into a graphene field effect transistor (G-FET) having electrical contacts insulated from a defined sensing area;
• synthesizing a chemically modified peptide and conjugating the synthesized peptide to a flat aromatic linker to create a peptide probe capable of recognizing and binding to a bacterial target;
• integrating the peptide probe on the G-FET to provide a G-FET/peptide device capable of biosensing using dielectrophoresis;
• performing electric-field assisted binding of at least one bacterial cell of the bacterial target to the defined sensing area of the G-FET/peptide device;
• and
• electrically detecting the binding of the at least one bacterial cell to the G-FET/peptide device.