Figure 3.

Numerical results. (a) Validation of modeling approach—double RSA simulations compare well with experiments for biofouling efficiency of PEG molecules (experimental data from Ref. 23, normalized to a surface coverage of θ^∞=0.547). (b) Diffusion limited RSA dynamics for various bulk receptor concentrations. (c) Incubation time required for a given surface coverage as a function of bulk receptor density, illustrating the influence of diffusion limited transport on achievable surface coverage. For low analyte densities, the surface is far from being fully saturated, which leads to increased probability of nonspecific adsorption. (d) Variation in SNR with receptor density. Reliable detection of target molecules require SNR>1. Solid line shows the results from an approximate analysis [Eq. 12].