Development of carbon nanomaterials-based biosensor.

Abstract

Carbon nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene, are gaining popularity as novel biosensing platforms. This is owing to their exceptional electrical properties enabling them to act as semiconductors. Additionally, the materials are able in undergoing various chemical functionalisations allowing the recognition of widespread bioanalytes of interest. This report discusses the usage of CNT for the detection of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and graphene for the sensing of biotin- streptavidin binding, cholesterol, and pH. The unique physical property of both materials was utilised to develop field-effect transistor (FET) for real time biomolecule detection. The FET device was chemically modified in order to achieve surface with recognition of the desired biomolecules. Subsequently, the respective bioanalytes were added in increasing concentrations into a phosphate buffered saline (PBS) buffer solution-filled FET device, leading to conductance alteration of the transistor. The results of this project indicate that carbon nanomaterials are promising candidates for the development of real-time nanoelectronic biosensors.