Marijuana or cannabis is becoming legal in North America and many countries around the world. Approximately 23 states and the District of Columbia in the United States have recently legalized the medical use of cannabis. Four states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington) have even legalized its recreational use. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is one of the most psychoactive agents in cannabis that causes intoxication while driving. Portable tools for better detection of THC-influenced drivers need to be developed to keep our roads safe. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay To date, several detection techniques have been reported to identify THC from blood, urine, hair, sweat, and saliva. But most of these analyzes depend on the laboratory. The use of cumbersome equipment such as chromatography and mass spectroscopy to analyze THC in blood samples makes it incompatible for roadside testing. Additionally, most commonly used urine tests cannot detect THC immediately after ingesting cannabis. Recently, Stanford researchers developed a mobile “potalizer” based on magnetic biosensors to detect tiny THC molecules in human saliva. Additionally, police officers could collect oral fluids with a cotton swab and test saliva using magnetoresistive biosensors and read the results on an integrated smartphone. However, the origin of THC in saliva is believed to be oral mucosal deposits rather than blood. Thus, consuming cannabis through edibles will make it difficult to detect THC in saliva. Currently, there is no portable device on the market that can provide rapid and accurate identification of a driver's THC intoxication as effectively as the breathalyzer for alcohol intoxication. Here, we proposed a field-effect transistor-based biosensor technology that facilitates rapid and precise measurement of THC intoxication resulting from driver breath. The detection technique is based on the change of conductivity in MoS2 nanosheets due to the interaction between THC and MoS2 molecules through anti-THC antibodies and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Proposed Biosensor for THC Detection: To fabricate the MoS2 EFT biosensor, chemically exfoliated few-layer MoS2 dispersion will be deposited on a 200 nm Si/SiO2 substrate. 80 nm Au will be deposited as source and drain electrodes. 10 nm Au NPs will be deposited on the surface of the MoS2 film using DC sputtering. Then, 5 μL of 5 μg/mL anti-THC antibody solution will be injected into the active area of the device and incubated for 15 minutes at room temperature. Finally, the device will be rinsed with DI water to remove unbound antibodies and blow dried with N2. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom Assays AuNPs are used to bind anti-THC antibodies onto the MoS2 surface. The anti-THC antibody serves as an anchoring site for THC molecules. Electrons transfer from the negatively charged oxygen in THC to AuNPs and then from AuNPs to MoS2, resulting in an increase in electron concentration in MoS2 nanosheets. Therefore, the electrical conductivity in the n-type MoS2 channel will increase with THC exposure. The strong affinity of the anti-THC antibody towards THC will make the biosensor more selective. While there is no clear scientific limit on THC for driver intoxication, most.
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