PolCarr®: Smart carriers for advanced nano-sensors and tissue engineering applications.

Further development of intelligent, highly-efficient and low-cost concepts in biosensors is a prime drive of the dynamically expanding biotechnology industry. As majority of the available market for biosensors is based on the functionalization of substrates, new approaches offering carriers with superior performance i.e. with easy-to-control immobilization, modification, transport and detection of the target analytes are required. Consequently, herein we propose a novel concept for fabrication of the smart carriers (PolCarr®) for diverse applications in biotechnology e.g. nano-sensors. The PolCarr® substrate consists of a doped Si wafer with an ultra-thin insulating top layer and a characteristic pattern of surface near electrostatic forces (SNEF). The selective binding and release of the electrically polarizable molecules onto the PolCarr® medium is purely driven by SNEF. Due to the excellent control degree at both the nm- and µm-range and the superb inertness of SNEF to environmental conditions, the PolCarr® carriers are very attractive candidates for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, as they allow for directed cell growth. The exceptional functionality of PolCarr® makes it a suitable medium for typical biotechnology processing e.g. autoclaving for sterilization. As the PolCarr® technology originates from a standard semiconductor manufacture, the exceptionally facile carrier processing offers realization of significant throughput and overall cost-reduction.