Protein electrochemistry using aligned carbon nanotube arrays

The remarkable electrocatalytic properties and small size of carbon nanotubes make them ideal for achieving direct electron transfer to proteins, important in understanding their redox properties and in the development of biosensors. Here, we report shortened SWNTs can be aligned normal to an electrode by self-assembly and act as molecular wires to allow electrical communication between the underlying electrode and redox proteins covalently attached to the ends of the SWNTs, in this case, microperoxidase MP-11. The efficiency of the electron transfer through the SWNTs is demonstrated by electrodes modified with tubes cut to different lengths having the same electron-transfer rate constant.     

Surfactant‐Dependent Charge Transfer between Polyoxometalates and Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes: A Fluorescence Spectroscopic Study

Hybridizations of redox‐active polyoxometalates (POMs) with single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been widely investigated for their diverse applications. For the purpose of constructing high‐quality electronic devices, controlling charge transfer within POM/SWNT hybrids is an inevitable issue. As determined by means of fluorescence spectroscopy, electron transfer between SWNTs and a common POM dopant, phosphomolybdic acid (PMo₁₂), can be tuned simply by an alteration of nanotube surfactant type from anionic to nonionic. The mechanism is attributed to the influence of surfactant type on the stabilization of the electron donor–acceptor hybrid and effect of surfactant–nanotube interactions. These results will be important to control charge‐transport behavior in nanohybrids consisting of carbon nanotubes.     

The effects of the lengths and orientations of single-walled carbon nanotubes on the electrochemistry of nanotube-modified electrodes

The influence of both nanotube orientation and length on the electrochemical properties of electrodes modified with single-walled carbon nanotubes was investigated. Gold electrodes were modified with either randomly dispersed or vertically aligned nanotubes to which ferrocenemethylamine was attached. Electron transfer kinetics were found to depend strongly on the orientation of the nanotube, with electron transfer between the gold electrode and the ferrocene moiety being 40 times slower through randomly dispersed nanotubes than through vertically aligned nanotubes. The difference is hypothesized to be due to electron transfer being more direct through a single tube than that with electrodes modified with randomly dispersed nanotubes. With the vertically aligned nanotubes the rate constant for electron transfer varied inversely with the mean length of the nanotubes. The results indicate there is an advantage in using aligned carbon nanotube arrays over randomly dispersed nanotubes for achieving efficient electron transfer to bound redox active species such as in the case of bioelectronic or photovoltaic devices.     

Separation and/or selective enrichment of single-walled carbon nanotubes based on their electronic properties

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) possess unique electronic properties that make them very promising materials for use in both nano-electronics and thin film devices. However, SWNTs are always produced as a mixture of metallic and semiconducting nanotubes, which is a major roadblock to their widespread application. This tutorial review provides a brief summary of ways of separating single-walled carbon nanotubes into metallic and semiconducting fractions. Various methods including selective growth, selective removal, selective adsorption and band structure modulation--all of which aim to produce pure SWNTs with well-defined electronic properties--are systematically discussed. The main problems in this field, the outlook for separation techniques and some views of future developments are presented.     

Effect of electrode surface microstructure on electron transfer induced conformation changes in cytochrome c monitored by in situ UV and CD spectroelectrochemistry

Electrochemical redox processes of bovine heart cytochrome c were investigated by in situ UV-vis and CD spectroelectrochemistry at bare glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) modified glassy carbon electrode (SWNTs/GCE) using a long optical path thin layer cell. The spectra obtained at GCE and SWNTs/GCE reflect electrode surface microstructure-dependent changes in protein conformation during redox transition. Potential-dependent conformational distribution curves of cytochrome c obtained by analysis of in situ circular dichroism (CD) spectra using singular value decomposition least square (SVDLS) method show that SWNTs can retain conformation of cytochrome c. Some parameters of the electrochemical reduction process, i.e. the product of electron transfer coefficient and number of electrons (alpha n = 0.3), apparent formal potential (E0' = 0.04 V), were obtained by double logarithmic analysis and standard heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant k0 was obtained by electrochemistry and double logarithmic analysis, respectively.     

Direct Synthesis of Multiplexed Metal‐Nanowire‐Based Devices by Using Carbon Nanotubes as Vector Templates

We present the synthesis of metal nanowires in a multiplexed device configuration using single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) as nanoscale vector templates. The SWNT templates control the dimensionality of the wires, allowing precise control of their size, shape, and orientation; moreover, a solution‐processable approach enables their linear deposition between specific electrode pairs in electronic devices. Electrical characterization demonstrated the successful fabrication of metal nanowire electronic devices, while multiscale characterization of the different fabrication steps revealed details of the structure and charge transfer between the material encapsulated and the carbon nanotube. Overall the strategy presented allows facile, low‐cost, and direct synthesis of multiplexed metal nanowire devices for nanoelectronic applications.     

Electrochemical study of single wall carbon nanotubes/graphene/ferritin composite for biofuel cell applications

A single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)/graphene/ferritin/GOx layer on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) acting as a biofuel cell anode was fabricated using a SWNTs/graphene/ferritin composite as an electron transfer mediator from the enzyme to the electrode. In the presence of glucose, the SWNTs/graphene/ferritin/GOx composite showed a higher current response than SWNTs/graphene/GOx composite and the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose on the anode increased linearly with increasing concentration of glucose. The highly distributed SWNTs/graphene/ferritin composite acts as a platform for enzyme immobilization resulted in an enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards glucose. The SWNTs/graphene/ferritin composite showed an enhanced electron transfer from enzyme to the electrode; therefore, SWNTs/graphene/ferritin/GOx composite can be used as an anode in biofuel cells.     

Direct Electrochemistry of Catalase at a Gold Electrode Modified with Single‐Wall Carbon Nanotubes

The direct electrochemistry of catalase (Ct) was accomplished at a gold electrode modified with single‐wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). A pair of well‐defined redox peaks was obtained for Ct with the reduction peak potential at ?0.414 V and a peak potential separation of 32 mV at pH 5.9. Both reflectance FT‐IR spectra and the dependence of the reduction peak current on the scan rate revealed that Ct adsorbed onto the SWNT surfaces. The redox wave corresponds to the Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox center of the heme group of the Ct adsorbate. Compared to other types of carbonaceous electrode materials (e.g., graphite and carbon soot), the electron transfer rate of Ct redox reaction was greatly enhanced at the SWNT‐modified electrode. The peak current was found to increase linearly with the Ct concentration in the range of 8×10^?6–8×10^?5 M used for the electrode preparation and the peak potential was shown to be pH dependent. The catalytic activity of Ct adsorbates at the SWNTs appears to be retained, as the addition of H₂O₂ produced a characteristic catalytic redox wave. This work demonstrates that direct electrochemistry of redox‐active biomacromolecules such as metalloenzymes can be improved through the use of carbon nanotubes.     

Proton-fueled DNA-duplex-based stimuli-responsive reversible assembly of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have received much attention in nanotechnology because of their potential applications in molecular electronics, field-emission devices, biomedical engineering, and biosensors. Carbon nanotubes as gene and drug delivery vectors or as "building blocks" in nano-/microelectronic devices has been successfully explored. However, since SWNTs lack chemical recognition, SWNT-based electronic devices and sensors are strictly related to the development of a bottom-up self-assembly technique. Here we present an example of using DNA duplex-based protons (H(+)) as a fuel to control reversible assembly of SWNTs without generation of waste duplex products that poison DNA-based systems.     

Synthesis and characterization of a grapevine nanostructure consisting of single-walled carbon nanotubes with covalently attached [60]fullerene balls

A grapevine nanostructure based on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) covalently functionalized with [60]fullerene (C60) has been synthesized and characterized in detail. Investigations into the ball-on-tube carbon nanostructure by ESR spectroscopy indicate a tendency for ground-state electron transfer from the SWNT to the C60 moieties. The cyclic-voltammetric response of the nanostructure film exhibits reversible multiple-step electrochemical reactions of the dispersed C60, which are strikingly similar to those of the C60 derivatives in solution, but with consistent negative shifts in the redox potential. This results from the covalent linkage of C60 to the surfaces of the SWNTs in the form of monomers and manifests the electronic interaction between the C60 and SWNT moieties.     

Direct electrochemistry of xanthine oxidase at a gold electrode modified with single-wall carbon nanotubes.

The direct electrochemistry of xanthine oxidase (XOD) was accomplished at a gold electrode modified with single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). A pair of well-defined redox peaks was obtained for XOD with the reduction peak potential at -0.478 V and a peak potential separation of 28 mV at pH 7.0. Both FT-IR spectra and the dependence of the reduction peak current on the scan rate revealed that XOD adsorbed onto the SWNT surfaces. The redox wave corresponds to the redox center of the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) of the XOD adsorbate. Compared to other types of carbonaceous electrode materials, the electron transfer rate of XOD redox reaction was greatly enhanced at the SWNT-modified electrode. The peak potential was shown to be pH dependent. Spectral methods verified that the attachment of XOD onto SWNTs does not perturb the XOD conformations drastically.     

Atomic Force Microscopic and Electrochemical Investigations of an Electrostatically Fabricated Single‐Wall Carbon Nanotubes Modified Electrode

Single‐wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) sub‐monolayer film has been prepared by simply electrostatically adsorbing nanotubes onto a 2‐aminoethanethiol self‐assembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold bead electrode. Tapping‐mode atomic force microscopy (TM‐AFM) is used to characterize the SWNT film, which exhibits that the orientation of SWNTs on the SAM is horizontal and the surface coverage is quite low. The SWNTs modified electrode shows nearly ideal electrochemical response to Fe(CN) /Fe(CN) redox probe. The electrode with such a low SWNTs coverage, however, shows good electrocatalytic behavior to cytochrome c.     

Phthalocyanine-pyrene conjugates: a powerful approach toward carbon nanotube solar cells

In the present work, a new family of pyrene (Py)-substituted phthalocyanines (Pcs), i.e., ZnPc-Py and H(2)Pc-Py, were designed, synthesized, and probed in light of their spectroscopic properties as well as their interactions with single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The pyrene units provide the means for non-covalent functionalization of SWNTs via π-π interactions. Such a versatile approach ensures that the electronic properties of SWNTs are not impacted by the chemical modification of the carbon skeleton. The characterization of ZnPc-Py/SWNT and H(2)Pc-Py/SWNT has been performed in suspension and in thin films by means of different spectroscopic and photoelectrochemical techniques. Transient absorption experiments reveal photoinduced electron transfer between the photoactive components. ZnPc-Py/SWNT and H(2)Pc-Py/SWNT have been integrated into photoactive electrodes, revealing stable and reproducible photocurrents with monochromatic internal photoconversion efficiency values for H(2)Pc-Py/SWNT as large as 15 and 23% without and with an applied bias of +0.1 V.     

Electrochemistry at chemically assembled single-wall carbon nanotube arrays

Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) chemically assembled on gold substrates were employed as electrodes to investigate the charge transfer process between SWNTs and the underlying substrates. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) indicates that the assembled SWNTs allow electron communication between a gold electrode and the redox couple in solution, though the SWNTs are linked directly onto the insulating monolayer of 11-amino-n-undecanethiol (AUT) on the Au substrate. An electron transfer (ET) mechanism, which contains an electron tunneling process across the AUT monolayer, is proposed to explain the CV behavior of Au/AUT/SWNT electrodes. Electrochemical measurements show that the apparent electron tunneling resistance, which depends on the surface density of assembled SWNTs, has apparent effects similar to those of solution resistance on CV behavior . The theory of solution resistance is used to describe the apparent tunneling resistance. The experimental results of the dependence of ET parameter psi on the potential scan rate upsilon are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. Kinetic studies of the chemical assembly of SWNTs by atomic force microscopic (AFM), electrochemical, and Raman spectroscopic methods reveal that two distinct assembly kinetics exist: a relatively fast step that is dominated by the surface reaction, and a successive slow step that is governed by bundle formation.     

用羟基磷灰石和单壁碳纳米管制备葡萄糖传感器的研究

在滴涂法制得单壁碳纳米管(SWNTs)修饰电极的基础上,采用电化学方法沉积纳米羟基磷灰石(HA)涂层,进而利用分子组装技术将葡萄糖氧化酶(GOD)固定到该电极上,制得的修饰电极的循环伏安测量结果表明,GOD发生了直接的电子传递.GOD-HA-SWNTs/GC修饰电极对不同浓度的葡萄糖呈现两个良好的线性响应范围,有望开发...     

Redox Couple of DNA on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Modified Electrode

It has been envisioned that carbon nanotubes could promote electron‐transfer reactions when used as electrode materials in electrochemical cells. In the present study, calf thymus DNA was electrochemically oxidized at an electrode modified with multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The potentials for DNA oxidation at pH 7.0 were found to be 0.71 and 0.81 V versus SCE, corresponding to the oxidation of guanine and adenine residues, respectively. An initial oxidation of adenine was observed in the first scan, which was followed by a quasi‐reversible redox process of the oxidation product in the subsequent scans.     

Electorchemical Studies of Cytochrome c on Electodes Modified by Single—Wall Carbon Naotubes

Single-wall carbon nanotubes(SWNTs) modified gold electrodes were prepared by using two different methods.The electrochemical behavior of cytochrome c on the modified gold electrodes was investigated.The first kind of SWNT-modified electrode (noted as SWNT/Au electrode)was prepared by the adsorption of carboxylterminated SWNTs from DMF dispersion on the gold electrode.The oxidatively processed SWNT tips were covalently modified by coupling with amines (AET) to form amide linkage.Via Au-S chemical bonding,the self-assembled monolayer of thiol-unctionalized nanotubes on gold surface was fabricated so as to prepare the others SWNT-modified electrode (noted as SWNT/AET/Au electrode).It was shown from cyclic voltammetry cxperiments that cytochrome c exhibited direct electrochemical responses on the both electrodes, but only the current of controlled diffusion existed on the SWNT/Au electrode while both the currents of controlled diffusion and adsorption of cytochrome c occurred on the SWNT/AET/Au electrode.Photoelastic Modulation Infared Reflection Absorpthion Spectroscopy (PEM-IRRAS) and Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) were employed to verify the adsorption of SWNTs on the gold electrodes.The results proved that SWNTs could enhance the direct electron transfer proecss between the electrodes and redox proteins.     

A New Amperometric Hydrazine Sensor Based on Prussian Blue/Single‐walled Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposites

A slow reaction process has been successfully used to synthesize Prussian blue/single‐walled carbon nanotubes (PB/SWNTs) nanocomposites. Electrochemical and surface characterization by cyclic voltammetry (CV), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV‐vis absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the presence of PB nanocrystallites on SWNTs. PB/SWNTs modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) exhibits efficient electron transfer ability and high electrochemical response towards hydrazine. The fabricated hydrazine sensor showed a wide linear range of 2.0×10^?6–6.0×10^?3 M with a response time less than 4 s and a detection limit of 0.5 μM. PB/SWNTs modified electrochemical sensors are promising candidates for cost‐effective in the hydrazine assays.     

单壁碳纳米管的轴向能带工程

单壁碳纳米管具有优异的电子学特性,是制备新一代高性能集成电路的重要材料.碳纳米管芯片之路存在诸多挑战,包括直径和手性的控制生长方法、金属性和半导体性单壁碳纳米管的分离方法、器件加工与集成方法等.这些课题从本质上讲大多属于化学问题,因此碳纳米管芯片研究为化学家们提供了新的机遇与挑战.过去10年来,我们围绕单壁碳纳米管的轴向能带工程这一研究思路,开展了一系列碳纳米管芯片的基础探索工作,发展了若干有效的单壁碳纳米管局域能带的调控方法,包括温度阶跃生长法、脉冲供料生长法、基底调控法以及形变调控法等.本文系统地阐述了这些局域能带调控方法,为使读者对该领域的研究进展有一个较为全面的了解,文中对其他课题组开展的代表性工作也给予了综述性介绍.     

Single‐Wall Carbon Nanotube Paste Electrodes: a Comparison with Carbon Paste,Platinum and Glassy Carbon Electrodes via Cyclic Voltammetric Data

A new carbon electrode material, obtained by mixing single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with a mineral oil binder is studied. Carbon nanotube pastes show the special properties of carbon nanotubes combined with the various advantages of composite electrodes such as a very low capacitance (background current) and the possibility of an easy preparation, modification and renewal. A better knowledge of the characteristics of electrode reactions at carbon nanotube paste (CNTP) electrodes was obtained studying the electron transfer rates of various redox couples under different pretreatment conditions. A critical comparison with carbon paste (CP), platinum (Pt) and glassy carbon (GC) electrodes was also carried out. Capacitance and resistance values were also calculated for all electrodes investigated. Both untreated and treated CNTP electrodes showed a low resistance while the capacitance was markedly reduced with CNTP electrodes previously treated with concentrated nitric acid. An electrochemical pretreatment on CNTP electrodes was developed which showed an excellent result towards two‐electron quinonic structure species. After this treatment the heterogeneous standard rate constants for p‐methylaminophenol sulfate (MAP) and dopamine resulted to be significantly higher (2.1×10^?2 cm/s and 2.0×10^?2 cm/s, respectively) than those obtained with the other electrodes studied. Reproducibility, stability and storage characteristics of CNTP electrodes were also reported.