Review: Carbon nanotube based electrochemical sensors for biomolecules

Voltammetric Determination of Acetaminophen in the Presence of Codeine and Ascorbic Acid at Layer-by-Layer MWCNT/Hydroquinone Sulfonic Acid-Overoxidized Polypyrrole Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

A very sensitive electrochemical sensor constructed of a glassy carbon electrode modified with a layer-by-layer MWCNT/doped-overoxidized polypyrrole (oppy/MWCNT /GCE) was used for the determination of acetaminophen (AC) in the presence of codeine and ascorbic acid (AA). In comparison to the bare glassy carbon electrode, a considerable shift in the peak potential together with an increase in the peak current was observed for AC on the surface of oppy/MWCNT/GCE, which can be related to the enlarged microscopic surface area of the electrode. The effect of the experimental conditions on the electrode response, such as types of counter ion, pyrrole and counter ion concentration, potential and number of cycles in the polymerization procedure, amount of MWCNT, and the pH, were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the calibration curve was obtained over two concentration ranges of 2 × 10−7–6 × 10−6 M and 4 × 10−5–1 × 10−4 M of AC with a linear correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.9959 and 0.9947, respectively. The estimated detection limit (3σ) for AC was obtained as 5 × 10−8 M. The developed method was successfully applied to analyze the pharmaceutical preparations of AC, and a recovery of 95% with a relative standard deviation of 0.98% was obtained for AC.

Carbon nanotubes: engineering biomedical applications

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cylinder-shaped allotropic forms of carbon, most widely produced under chemical vapor deposition. They possess astounding chemical, electronic, mechanical, and optical properties. Being among the most promising materials in nanotechnology, they are also likely to revolutionize medicine. Among other biomedical applications, after proper functionalization carbon nanotubes can be transformed into sophisticated biosensing and biocompatible drug-delivery systems, for specific targeting and elimination of tumor cells. This chapter provides an introduction to the chemical and electronic structure and properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes, followed by a description of the main synthesis and post-synthesis methods. These sections allow the reader to become familiar with the specific characteristics of these materials and the manner in which these properties may be dependent on the specific synthesis and post-synthesis processes. The chapter ends with a review of the current biomedical applications of carbon nanotubes, highlighting successes and challenges.

Advances in carbon nanotube based electrochemical sensors for bioanalytical applications

Electrochemical (EC) sensing approaches have exploited the use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as electrode materials owing to their unique structures and properties to provide strong electrocatalytic activity with minimal surface fouling. Nanofabrication and device integration technologies have emerged along with significant advances in the synthesis, purification, conjugation and biofunctionalization of CNTs. Such combined efforts have contributed towards the rapid development of CNT-based sensors for a plethora of important analytes with improved detection sensitivity and selectivity. The use of CNTs opens an opportunity for the direct electron transfer between the enzyme and the active electrode area. Of particular interest are also excellent electrocatalytic activities of CNTs on the redox reaction of hydrogen peroxide and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, two major by-products of enzymatic reactions. This excellent electrocatalysis holds a promising future for the simple design and implementation of on-site biosensors for oxidases and dehydrogenases with enhanced selectivity. To date, the use of an anti-interference layer or an artificial electron mediator is critically needed to circumvent unwanted endogenous electroactive species. Such interfering species are effectively suppressed by using CNT based electrodes since the oxidation of NADH, thiols, hydrogen peroxide, etc. by CNTs can be performed at low potentials. Nevertheless, the major future challenges for the development of CNT-EC sensors include miniaturization, optimization and simplification of the procedure for fabricating CNT based electrodes with minimal non-specific binding, high sensitivity and rapid response followed by their extensive validation using "real world" samples. A high resistance to electrode fouling and selectivity are the two key pending issues for the application of CNT-based biosensors in clinical chemistry, food quality and control, waste water treatment and bioprocessing.