Mediated amperometric immunosensing using single walled carbon nanotube forests

A prototype amperometric immunosensor was evaluated based on the adsorption of antibodies onto perpendicularly oriented assemblies of single wall carbon nanotubes called SWNT forests. The forests were self-assembled from oxidatively shortened SWNTs onto Nafion/iron oxide coated pyrolytic graphite electrodes. The nanotube forests were characterized using atomic force microscopy and resonance Raman spectroscopy. Anti-biotin antibody strongly adsorbed to the SWNT forests. In the presence of a soluble mediator, the detection limit for horseradish peroxidase (HRP) labeled biotin was 2.5 pmol ml[-1] (2.5 nM). Unlabelled biotin was detected in a competitive approach with a detection limit of 16 nmol ml[-1] (16 μM) and a relative standard deviation of 12%. The immunosensor showed low non-specific adsorption of biotin-HRP (approx. 0.1%) when blocked with bovine serum albumin. This immunosensing approach using high surface area, patternable, conductive SWNT assemblies may eventually prove useful for nano-biosensing arrays

Site-specific Forest-assembly of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes on Electron-beam Patterned SiOx/Si Substrates

Based on electron-beam direct writing on the SiOx/Si substrates, favorable absorption sites for ferric cations (Fe3+ ions) were created on the surface oxide layer. This allowed Fe3+-assisted self-assembled arrays of single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) probes to be produced. Auger investigation indicated that the incident energetic electrons depleted oxygen, creating more dangling bonds around Si atoms at the surface of the SiOx layer. This resulted in a distinct difference in the friction forces from unexposed regions as measured by lateral force microscopy (LFM). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) affirmed that the irradiated domains absorbed considerably more Fe3+ ions upon immersion into pH 2.2 aqueous FeCl3 solution. This rendered a greater yield of FeO(OH)/FeOCl precipitates, primarily FeO(OH), upon subsequent washing with lightly basic dimethylformamide (DMF) solution. Such selective metalfunctionalization established the basis for the subsequent patterned forest-assembly of SWNTs as demonstrated by resonance Raman spectroscopy

Single wall carbon nanotubes: Separation and applications to biosensors

Single wall carbon nanotubes uniquely exhibit one-dimensional quantum confined properties by being either semiconducting (sem-) or metallic (met-) depending on their atomic arrangements. The stochastic nature of SWNT growth renders met-:sem- ratio being 1:2 and diameter range being distributed in 0.4-2nm with a close-packed bundle configuration. For many high-performance devices using SWNTs, acquiring well-separated and/or isolated single-diameter, metallicity and/or chirality nanotubes is greatly in demand. Recently, the bulk separation and/or enrichment of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) according to type (or otherwise termed metallicity ) and diameter (dt) has become possible. This thesis presents a route to probe mechanisms in diameter and metallicity dependent separation of SWNTs. A systematic analysis tool, that enables the quantitative examination of resonance Raman spectra, is established from nanotube samples that have been separated according to metallicity and d t via an octadecylamine mediated protocol. This protocol uses the relative changes in the integrated intensities of the radial-breathing mode region for the quantitative evaluation. By further establishing the physicochemical properties of charge-stabilized SWNT dispersions in polar aprotic media (i.e. N,N-dimethylformide) a more detailed description of the underlying separation mechanism is given. Here, I use resonance Raman spectroscopy (RRS) as a tool to probe SWNT redox chemistry. The Gibbs free energy, modeled by calculating the charge-loss from the (n,m)-dependent integrated density of states across the corresponding jump in the redox potential, is utilized to support the separation mechanism. Additionally, the evaluation of SWNT forest platforms for amperometric protein immunoassays is presented. Horseradish peroxidase is used as the label and the sensing signals are acquired from electrochemical reduction of hydrogen peroxide. Specific studies on human serum albumin and prostate specific antigen detection are explained. Signal amplification strategies are introduced by using redox mediator, enzyme, and enzyme-decorated carbon nanotubes.

Single wall carbon nanotubes: Separation and applications to biosensors

Single wall carbon nanotubes uniquely exhibit one-dimensional quantum confined properties by being either semiconducting (sem-) or metallic (met-) depending on their atomic arrangements. The stochastic nature of SWNT growth renders met-:sem- ratio being 1:2 and diameter range being distributed in 0.4-2nm with a close-packed bundle configuration. For many high-performance devices using SWNTs, acquiring well-separated and/or isolated single-diameter, metallicity and/or chirality nanotubes is greatly in demand. Recently, the bulk separation and/or enrichment of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) according to type (or otherwise termed metallicity ) and diameter (dt) has become possible. This thesis presents a route to probe mechanisms in diameter and metallicity dependent separation of SWNTs. A systematic analysis tool, that enables the quantitative examination of resonance Raman spectra, is established from nanotube samples that have been separated according to metallicity and d t via an octadecylamine mediated protocol. This protocol uses the relative changes in the integrated intensities of the radial-breathing mode region for the quantitative evaluation. By further establishing the physicochemical properties of charge-stabilized SWNT dispersions in polar aprotic media (i.e. N,N-dimethylformide) a more detailed description of the underlying separation mechanism is given. Here, I use resonance Raman spectroscopy (RRS) as a tool to probe SWNT redox chemistry. The Gibbs free energy, modeled by calculating the charge-loss from the (n,m)-dependent integrated density of states across the corresponding jump in the redox potential, is utilized to support the separation mechanism. Additionally, the evaluation of SWNT forest platforms for amperometric protein immunoassays is presented. Horseradish peroxidase is used as the label and the sensing signals are acquired from electrochemical reduction of hydrogen peroxide. Specific studies on human serum albumin and prostate specific antigen detection are explained. Signal amplification strategies are introduced by using redox mediator, enzyme, and enzyme-decorated carbon nanotubes.

Structure Of A Peptide Adsorbed On Graphene And Graphite

The optical forces acting on nanoparticles in V-shaped plasmonic resonators with a high local-field gain have been investigated. Two versions are considered, which make it possible to implement either attractive or repulsive gradient optical forces. A plasmonic resonator is proposed, which can focus 350-nm radiation and implement a repulsive gradient force. It has been shown for the first time that a perturbation induced by a nanoparticle redistributes the field in the resonator so that additional intensity peaks arise in both versions to hold the nanoparticle in the resonator by forming an optical trap. © 2012 Kvantovaya Elektronika and Turpion Ltd