Atomistic Simulations of Dopamine Diffusion Dynamics on a Pristine Graphene Surface

Editors' Choice-Review-The Future of Carbon-Based Neurochemical Sensing: A Critical Perspective

Carbon-based sensors have remained critical materials for electrochemical detection of neurochemicals, rooted in their inherent biocompatibility and broad potential window. Real-time monitoring using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry has resulted in the rise of minimally invasive carbon fiber microelectrodes as the material of choice for making measurements in tissue, but challenges with carbon fiber's innate properties have limited its applicability to understudied neurochemicals. Here, we provide a critical review of the state of carbon-based real-time neurochemical detection and offer insight into ways we envision addressing these limitations in the future. This piece focuses on three main hinderances of traditional carbon fiber based materials: diminished temporal resolution due to geometric properties and adsorption/desorption properties of the material, poor selectivity/specificity to most neurochemicals, and the inability to tune amorphous carbon surfaces for specific interfacial interactions. Routes to addressing these challenges could lie in methods like computational modeling of single-molecule interfacial interactions, expansion to tunable carbon-based materials, and novel approaches to synthesizing these materials. We hope this critical piece does justice to describing the novel carbon-based materials that have preceded this work, and we hope this review provides useful solutions to innovate carbon-based material development in the future for individualized neurochemical structures.

Preparation of self-supporting vertically/horizontally grown graphene microelectrodes for neurotransmitter determination

The development of microelectrodes for the rapid in situ detection of neurotransmitters and their metabolic levels in human biofluids has considerable significance in biomedical research. In this study, self-supported graphene microelectrodes with B-doped, N-doped, and B- and N-co-doped vertical graphene (BVG, NVG, and BNVG, respectively) nanosheets grown on horizontal graphene (HG) were fabricated for the first time. The high electrochemical catalytic activity of BVG/HG on monoamine compounds was explored by investigating the influence of B and N atoms and the VG layer thickness on the response current of neurotransmitters. Quantitative analysis using the BVG/HG electrode in a blood-like environment with pH 7.4 indicated that the linear concentration ranges were 1-400 and 1-350 μM for dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT), with limits of detection (LODs) of 0.271 and 0.361 μM, respectively. For tryptophan (Trp), the sensor measured a wide linear concentration range of 3-1500 μM over a wide pH range of 5.0-9.0, with the LOD fluctuating between 0.58 and 1.04 μM. Furthermore, the BVG/HG microelectrodes could be developed as needle- and pen-type sensors for the detection of DA, 5-HT, and Trp in human blood and gastrointestinal secretion samples.

Structure and Dynamics of Adsorbed Dopamine on Solvated Carbon Nanotubes and in a CNT Groove

Advanced carbon microelectrodes, including many carbon-nanotube (CNT)-based electrodes, are being developed for the in vivo detection of neurotransmitters such as dopamine (DA). Our prior simulations of DA and dopamine-o-quinone (DOQ) on pristine, flat graphene showed rapid surface diffusion for all adsorbed species, but it is not known how CNT surfaces affect dopamine adsorption and surface diffusivity. In this work, we use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the adsorbed structures and surface diffusion dynamics of DA and DOQ on CNTs of varying curvature and helicity. In addition, we study DA dynamics in a groove between two aligned CNTs to model the spatial constraints at the junctions within CNT assemblies. We find that the adsorbate diffusion on a solvated CNT surface depends upon curvature. However, this effect cannot be attributed to changes in the surface energy roughness because the lateral distributions of the molecular adsorbates are similar across curvatures, diffusivities on zigzag and armchair CNTs are indistinguishable, and the curvature dependence disappears in the absence of solvent. Instead, adsorbate diffusivities correlate with the vertical placement of the adsorbate's moieties, its tilt angle, its orientation along the CNT axis, and the number of waters in its first hydration shell, all of which will influence its effective hydrodynamic radius. Finally, DA diffuses into and remains in the groove between a pair of aligned and solvated CNTs, enhancing diffusivity along the CNT axis. These first studies of surface diffusion on a CNT electrode surface are important for understanding the changes in diffusion dynamics of dopamine on nanostructured carbon electrode surfaces.