Nonfouling property of zwitterionic cysteine surface.

Applications of implantable bioelectronics for analytical and curative purposes are currently limited by their poor long-term biofunctionality in physiological media and nonspecific interactions with biomolecules. In an attempt to prolong in vivo functionality, recent advances in surface modifications have demonstrated that zwitterionic coatings can rival the performance of conventional poly(ethylene glycol) polymers in reducing nonspecific protein fouling. Herein, we report the fabrication of a very thin layer of nonfouling zwitterionic cysteine surface capable of protecting implantable bioelectronics from nonspecific adsorption of plasma proteins. This work is the first of its kind to fabricate, through solution chemistry, a cysteine surface exhibiting zwitterionic state as high as 88% and to demonstrate antibiofouling under the exposure of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human serum. The fabricated surface utilized a minimal amount of gold substrate, approximately 10 nm, and an extremely thin antifoulin...