Determination of the small amount of proteins interacting with TiO2 nanotubes by AFM-measurement.

Detecting the small amounts of proteins interacting effectively with the solid film electrodes surface still remains a challenge. To address this, in this work, a new approach was proposed by the combination of the adhesion forces and the molecular interaction measured with AFM. Cytochrome c (Cyt C) interacting effectively with TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNAs) was chosen as a probe. The amounts of Cyt C molecules interacting effectively on TNAs surface (CTNA) range from 5.5×10-12 to 7.0×10-12 mol/cm2 (68.2-86.8 ng/cm2) and they are comparable with the values obtained by the electrochemistry method in the literature, in evidence of the accuracy of this AFM-based approach. The reliability of the proposed approach was further verified by conducting Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) measurements and estimating the enhancement factor (EF). This interaction-based AFM approach can be used to accurately obtain the small amounts of adsorbed substances on the solid film electrodes surface in the applications such as biosensors, biocatalysis, and drug delivery, etc.