Fig. 3: Enhancement of electrochemical performance and antifouling activities by emulsion-based nanocomposite.

a Fabrication of CRISPR/Cas12a-based electrochemical nucleic acid sensor by immobilizing PNA/reporter probe (RP)-HRP onto porous nanocomposite. Debye volume can be maximized in concave structures. b Measurement of CV according to nanocomposite structures. CV were conducted in 5 mM ferri-/ferrocyanide solution before PNA immobilization (left). After PNA immobilization, RP-HRP hybridization, and TMB precipitation, CV were conducted in PBST (right). Scan rate is 0.1 V s⁻¹ between −0.5 and 0.5 V. Statistical significance was tested using two-tailed Student’s t test. Two chips were used for the measurements. For all boxes, the dashed central line represents the median, the bottom and top edges mark the 25th and 75th percentiles. The whiskers denote 1.5× interquartile range (IQR)(n = 8 independent experiments). c–e Comparison of peak current between bare Au electrode and nanocomposite-coated electrodes. Chips were stored for one month at 4 °C in 1% BSA, NPS, and serum. Data represents mean values ± SD (n = 4 independent experiments). Emulsion-based nanocomposite-coated electrodes demonstrated superior antifouling properties against non-specific molecules by maintaining its electrochemical behavior for one month under all biofluid conditions.