Indium arsenide as a material for biological applications: Assessment of surface modifications, toxicity, and biocompatibility

Scott A Jewett, Purdue University

Abstract

III-V semiconductors such as InAs have recently been employed in a variety of applications where the electronic and optical characteristics of traditional, silicon-based materials are inadequate. InAs has a narrow band gap and very high electron mobility in the near-surface region, which makes it very attractive for high performance transistors, optical applications, and chemical sensing. However, InAs forms an unstable surface oxide layer in ambient conditions, which can corrode over time and leach toxic indium and arsenic components. Current research has gone into making InAs more attractive for biological applications through passivation of the surface by adlayer adsorption. In particular, wet-chemical methods are current routes of exploration due to their simplicity, low cost, and flexibility in the type of passivating molecule. This dissertation focuses on surface modifications of InAs using wet-chemical methods in order to further its use in biological applications. First, the adsorption of collagen binding peptides and mixed peptide/thiol adlayers onto InAs was assessed. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) along with atomic force microscopy (AFM) data suggested that the peptides successfully adsorbed onto InAs, but were only able to block oxide regrowth to a relatively low extent. This low passivation ability is due to the lack of covalent bonds of the peptide to InAs, which are necessary to effectively block oxide regrowth. The addition of a thiol, in the form of mixed peptide/thiol adlayers greatly enhanced passivation of InAs while maintaining peptide presence on the surface. Thiols form tight, covalent bonds with InAs, which prevents oxide regrowth. The presence of the collagen-binding peptide on the surface opens the door to subsequent modification with collagen or polyelectrolyte-based adlayers. Next, the stability and toxicity of modified InAs substrates were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and zebrafish studies. InAs substrates modified with a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) based adlayer showed the highest stability in physiological conditions by leaching the lowest amounts of indium and arsenic. Modified substrates also showed no toxicity to zebrafish after incubation for 120 hours. Overall, these findings suggest that a variety of adlayers can be functionalized onto InAs surfaces and successfully passivate the surface, along with decreasing InAs toxicity. Finally, we demonstrate how surface modifications can be applied to a different III-V semiconductor, GaN, in order to modulate cellular adhesion. Modification of GaN with a laminin-derived peptide increases the adhesion of PC12 neuronal cells and alters the physical morphology of the adhered cells. Additionally, no toxicity to cells is observed, further demonstrating the potential for employing III-V semiconductors in biological applications.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Ivanisevic, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Toxicology|Surgery|Biochemistry|Biomedical engineering|Materials science

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