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Nanocarbon Film-Based Electrochemical Detectors and Biosensors

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Nanobiosensors and Nanobioanalyses

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Abstract

For electroanalytical or electrochemical biosensor applications, carbon electrodes are more suitable than other electrode materials including gold, platinum and various metal oxide-based electrodes. This is because carbon-based electrodes have a wide potential window and a relatively low background noise level, which is very important as regards the electrochemical detection of certain biomolecules. Recently, new carbon materials including carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene and boron-doped diamond (BDD) have been developed and employed as electrode materials. BDD has been applied to electroanalysis because of its extremely wide potential window and stability. In contrast, nanocarbon materials such as CNTs and graphene have been actively developed as the electrodes of energy devices such as batteries and fuel cells. Recently, these materials have been studied as sensing platforms for such biomolecules as DNA and proteins. Compared with these nanocarbons, which have a powder-like or fiber morphology, carbon films are advantageous as electrodes for biochemical detection or biosensor platforms. This is because they are sufficiently conductive without needing to be doped with other atoms, and they have a relatively low background current, which is effective for obtaining a high signal-to-noise ratio or a low detection limit. Film electrodes can be microfabricated into sensor electrodes of various sizes and shapes with excellent reproducibility. Here, we introduce different kinds of carbon-based film electrodes fabricated with a variety of techniques including the pyrolysis of organic films and vacuum processes such as sputtering or chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and we describe their application for electroanalysis and chemical and biosensors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8566, Japan

    Osamu Niwa & Dai Kato

Authors
  1. Osamu Niwa
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  2. Dai Kato
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Correspondence to Osamu Niwa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Ishikawa, Japan

    Mun'delanji C. Vestergaard

  2. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Kagan Kerman

  3. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR

    I-Ming Hsing

  4. Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

    Eiichi Tamiya

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Niwa, O., Kato, D. (2015). Nanocarbon Film-Based Electrochemical Detectors and Biosensors. In: Vestergaard, M., Kerman, K., Hsing, IM., Tamiya, E. (eds) Nanobiosensors and Nanobioanalyses. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55190-4_7

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