METHOD FOR FUNCTIONALISING THE WALL OF A PORE

• US 20110174629A1
• Filed: 02/05/2009
• Published: 07/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (AES Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Energies Alternatives Commissariat A L'Energie Atomique et AUX
• Inventors: Bouchet, Aurélie, Livache, Thierry, Haguet, Vincent, Mailley, Pascal, Descamps, Emeline, Chatelain, Francois
• Application Number:
  US12/866,340
• Publication Number:
  US 20110174629A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 205/131
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2203/0353 Holes
• CPC Class Codes: B81C 1/00206 Processes for functionalising a surface, e.g. provide the surface with specific mechanical, chemical or biological properties
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/48721 Investigating individual macromolecules, e.g. by translocation through nanopores Coulter counters in general G01N15/12; fabrication methods for nanoscale apertures B81B1/00; sequencing of nucleic acids C12Q1/68

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for functionalising at least a portion of a wall of a pore of a carrier material, characterised in that it comprises: a) contacting the pore with a solution of electrically activated entities and positioning two electrodes in said solution in order to create inside the pore, and when an electric signal is applied between the two electrodes, a voltage drop capable of generating a localised deposit on said wall; and b) applying an electric signal between the two electrodes in order to activate the electrically activated entities and carry out said functionalisation function.

Claims

1. A process for functionalizing at least one part of the wall of at least one pore of a support material, the process comprising:

a) placing the pore in contact with a solution of electro-activatable species and positioning two electrodes in said solution, so as to create inside the pore, when an electrical signal is applied between the two electrodes, a voltage drop capable of generating a localized deposition onto the wall,

b) applying at least one electrical signal between the two electrodes to activate the electro-activatable species and generate the localized deposition, thereby achieving the functionalizing.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the voltage drop inside the pore is greater than 1000 V/m.

3. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one repeating the placing a) and the applying b), with a second solution of electro-activatable species.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein

the pore is open at both ends, and

a solution is placed in two compartments, in each of which emerges one end of the pore, at least one of the two solutions comprising the electro-activatable species.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein

the pore has only one emerging end,

one of the electrodes is placed at a bottom of a cavity or at a bottom of the pore, and

the other electrode is placed in a compartment in communication with the emerging end of the pore.

6. The process of claim 1, further comprising, after the applying b), c) rinsing.

7. The process of claim 1, wherein the electro-activatable species is at least one electropolymerizable monomer.

8. The process of claim 7, wherein the electro-activatable species is at least one selected from the group consisting of a pyrrole, a thiophene, an indole, an aniline, an azine, a phenylenevinylene, a phenylene, a pyrene, a furan, a selenophene, a pyridazine, a carbazole, an acrylate, a methacrylate, a derivative of a pyrrole, a derivative of a thiophene, an derivative of an indole, an derivative of an aniline, an derivative of an azine, a derivative of a phenylenevinylene, a derivative of a phenylene, a derivative of a pyrene, a derivative of a furan, a derivative of a selenophene, a derivative of a pyridazine, a derivative of a carbazole, an acrylate, and a derivative of a methacrylate.

9. The process as of claim 1, wherein the electro-activatable species bears at least one electro-graftable function.

10. The process of claim 1, wherein the electro-activatable species is at least one selected from the group consisting of a metal, a metal oxide, a catalytic particle, a salt, and a metal complex.

11. The process of claim 1, wherein the electro-activatable species are formed by an electrophoretic paint.

12. The process of claim 1, wherein the solution comprises the electro-activatable species coupled to at least one ligand.

13. The process of claim 12, wherein the solution of electro-activatable species comprises a mixture of electro-activatable species, and the electro-activatable species coupled to at least one ligand.

14. The process of claim 13, wherein the solution comprises pyrrole coupled to a biomolecule.

15. The process of claim 1, wherein the solution of electro-activatable species comprises doping ions of at least one selected from the group consisting of heparin and chondroitin.

16. The process of claim 1, wherein the support material comprises silicon.

17. The process of claim 1, wherein the electrical signal is an electrical voltage difference of between 10 mV and 500 V.

18. The process of claim 17, wherein the voltage difference is applied for a time of between 10 μ

s and 100 s.

19. The process of claim 1, wherein a concentration of electro-activatable species is between 1 nM and 500 mM in the solution.

20. The process of claim 1, further comprising d) detaching the electro-activatable species from the support.

21. The process of claim 1, wherein the support comprises at least one flared functionalization region that extends the wall of a pore.

22. The process of claim 1, wherein the pore comprises a necking region constituting a functionalization region.

23. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

f) associating by recognition, wherein the electro-activatable species comprises at least one probe molecule.

24. The process of claim 23, further comprising:

g) denaturing the associating by recognition; and

h) optionally, associating again by recognition.

25. The process of claim 7, wherein the electro-activatable species is at least one pi-conjugated conductive polymers.

26. The process as of claim 9, wherein the electro-activatable species bears at least one diazonium group.