Semiconducting carbon nanotube fibers for electrochemical biosensor platforms

Abstract

We report the fabrication of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (sc-SWNT) fibers via wet-spinning for electrochemical biosensor platforms. SWNTs were purified using thermal and acid treatments and separated into metallic SWNTs and sc-SWNTs. The sc-SWNTs were then wet-spun into flexible fibers. Then, an enzyme capable of reacting with glucose was immobilized on the sc-SWNT fibers to investigate the utility of sc-SWNT fibers as an electrochemical biosensor platform. The enzyme-activated sc-SWNT fibers, which exhibited the field effects, were then configured into fiber-type glucose sensors capable of detecting the glucose in a solution, demonstrating the potential of sc-SWNT fibers as an electrochemical biosensor platform.

Keywords

• Single-walled carbon nanotubes
• Semiconducting SWNT fibers
• Field effect
• Fiber sensor