Single-chirality single-wall carbon nanotubes for electrochemical biosensing




Seo, Ju-Yeon; Mostafiz, Bahar; Tu, Xiaomin; Khripin, Constantine Y.; Zheng, Ming; Li, Han; Peltola, Emilia

PublisherRoyal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

2025

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

27

9

4959

4967

1463-9076

1463-9084

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1039/D4CP04206A(external)

https://doi.org/10.1039/d4cp04206a(external)

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/484859618(external)



Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) exhibit versatile optoelectronic properties closely linked to their structural characteristics, such as chiral angles and diameters. Given this, they are promising materials for biosensors. However, in studies investigating SWCNT-based electrochemical biosensors, raw soot has been mostly used. Soot typically contains a mixture of different chiralities, metallic compounds, and various impurities from the synthesis process. As a result, this mixture significantly limits the reproducibility and precision of SWCNT-based sensors. To ensure consistent sensor performance, we employed an aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) technique to purify and sort single-chirality SWCNTs—specifically, semiconducting (6,5) SWCNTs and metallic (6,6) SWCNTs. In addition, we used multiple fabrication methods to ensure that only pure-chirality SWCNTs were deposited onto the electrodes. Our findings emphasise the importance of using surfactant-free systems when investigating the influence of chirality on the electrochemical behaviour of SWCNTs. By using monochiral SWCNTs, we achieved precise control over their concentration and density, allowing us to assess their electrochemical properties accurately. Our results reveal that the adsorption-controlled process of the inner sphere redox probe occurs on (6,5) SWCNTs, while a diffusion-controlled process is observed on (6,6) SWCNTs. These findings provide valuable insights that will enhance the performance of SWCNT-based electrochemical biosensors.


This project has received funding from the European Union – NextGenerationEU instrument and is funded by the Research Council of Finland (RCF) under grant number 352 891. This project received funding from the RCF under grants number 321 996 and 352 899. H. L. gratefully acknowledges support from the Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology (TCSMT). The authors are thankful to the Materials Research Infrastructure (MARI) at the University of Turku for infrastructural facilities and Sari Granroth for performing the XPS measurements, and Nianxing Wang for performing the AFM measurements. The work was conducted under the #SUSMAT umbrella.


Last updated on 2025-05-03 at 11:18