Biofunctionalization of surfaces of nanostructured porous silicon

For the biomedical applications of porous silicon (PS), biomolecules have to be first immobilized on its surface through functional groups deposited on it. In this work, PS was biofunctionalized through the deposition on its surface of functional groups by thermally activated chemical vapour deposition of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) used as precursor. The presence of amine radicals was checked by XPS and their functionality was assessed by confocal microscopy. Polyclonal mouse immunoglobulines were used to confirm the immobilization of biomolecules and also in order to check if they keep their native character, once attached to the surface. Finally, the reflectance of PS substrates in the different stages of this development was measured to assess their possible use in biosensing applications. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.