Avoiding nonspecific surface adsorption is a crucial and often challenging issue in many single-molecule studies and analytical applications. In this work, we investigated glass surfaces coated with cross-linking star-shaped polyethylene glycol (4-arm PEG) and demonstrated that this coating can be used for effective suppression of nonspecific protein binding, such as streptavidin. Single-molecule fluorescence images show that only a few molecules remain nonspecifically bound to surfaces treated with protein after sufficient rinsing, i.e. less than to a state-of-the-art BSA coating. Furthermore, different applications for star-shaped PEG-passivated surfaces are shown.
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