Achieving Direct Electrical Connection to Glucose Oxidase Using Aligned Single Walled Carbon Nanotube Arrays

Direct electron transfer between an electrode and the redox active centre of glucose oxidase, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), is probed using carbon nanotube modified gold electrodes. Gold electrodes are first modified with a self‐assembled monolayer of cysteamine and then shortened single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are aligned normal to the electrode surface by self‐assembly. The electrochemistry of these aligned nanotube electrode arrays is initially investigated using potassium ferricyanide which showed SWNT act as nanoelectrodes with the ends of the tubes more electrochemically active than the walls. Subsequently the nanotubes are plugged into the enzymes in one of two ways. In the first method, native glucose oxidase is covalently attached to the ends of the aligned tubes which allowed close approach to FAD and direct electron transfer to be observed with a rate constant of 0.3 s^?1. In the second strategy, FAD was attached to the ends of the tubes and the enzyme reconstituted around the surface immobilized FAD. This latter approach allowed more efficient electron transfer to the FAD with a rate constant of 9 s^?1.     

湿法纯化碳纳米管阵列及其对碳纳米管阵列形貌的影响

采用酸溶液处理方法对垂直于衬底生长的碳纳米管阵列的纯化进行了研究. 利用扫描电子显微镜、X射线光电子能谱等手段对纯化前后的碳纳米管阵列的结构、形貌及化学组成进行表征. 实验结果表明, 通过控制条件, 酸溶液处理方法能够在有效地去除催化剂粒子等杂质的同时又保持阵列的相对完整性. 纯化后的碳纳米管阵列会促进其在电子学领域的进一步应用.     

Wet Purification of Aligned Carbon Nanotube Arrays and Its Impact on the Morphology of the Carbon Nanotube Arrays

A simple acid treatment method was applied to remove the catalyst impurities and other residues contaminated in the vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays. We demonstrated that acid treatment was an efficient approach for aligned carbon nanotube purification. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the morphology of the aligned carbon nanotube arrays and to determine the efficiency of the purification. Using hydrochloric acid could efficiently eliminate catalyst impurities and retain the original structures of the aligned carbon nanotube arrays. The method provided a simple, economical, and effective way to purify the aligned carbon nanotubes, and it would promote the applications of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays in electronic field.     

Electrochemistry of polystyrene intercalated vertically aligned single- and double-walled carbon nanotubes on gold electrodes

Electrochemical electrodes incorporating double- and single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were fabricated on cysteamine modified flat gold substrates. Through covalent coupling of the amine end groups with carboxyl functionalized CNTs, a dense forest of vertically aligned CNTs was produced. To these a 30 nm thick insulating polystyrene layer was spin coated, resulting in exposure of the uppermost carbon nanotube ends. The electrochemical performance of each electrode was then determined using the redox probe ruthenium hexaamine. Once surrounded by polymer, the double-walled CNTs (DWCNTs) showed an improved electron transfer rate, compared to the single-walled electrode. This improvement was attributed to the protection of the electronic properties of the inner wall of the DWCNT during the chemical modification and suggests that DWCNTs may offer a useful alternative to SWCNTs in future electrochemical sensors and biosensors.     

Growth Mechanism of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Arrays

Vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube arrays grown on quartz substrate are obtained by co-pyrolysis of xylene and ferrocene at 850 oC in a tube furnace. Raman spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements show that the single-walled carbon nanotubes are only present on top of vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube arrays. It has been revealed that isolated single-walled carbon nanotubes are only present in those floating catalyst generated materials. It thus suggests that the single-walled carbon nanotubes here are also generated by floating catalyst. Vertically alignedcarbon nanotube arrays on the quartz substrate have shown good orientation and good graphitization. Meanwhile, to investigate the growth mechanism, two bi-layers carbon nan-otube films with di erent thickness have been synthesized and analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the two-layer vertically aligned carbon nanotube films grow “bottom-up”. There are distinguished Raman scattering signals for the second layer itself, surface of the first layer, interface between the first and second layer, side wall and bottom surface. It indicates that the obtained carbon nanotubes follow the base-growth mechanism, and the single-walled carbon nanotubes grow from their base at the growth beginning when iron catalyst particles have small size. Those carbon nanotubes with few walls (typically <5 walls) have similar properties, which also agree with the base-growth mechanism.     

Demonstration of the advantages of using bamboo-like nanotubes for electrochemical biosensor applications compared with single walled carbon nanotubes

The modification of glassy carbon electrodes with random dispersions of nanotubes is currently the most popular approach to the preparation of carbon nanotube modified electrodes. The performance of glassy carbon electrodes modified with a random dispersion of bamboo type carbon nanotubes was compared with single walled carbon nanotubes modified glassy carbon electrodes and bare glassy carbon electrodes. The electrochemical performance of all three types for electrode were compared by investigating the electrochemistry with solution species and the oxidation of guanine and adenine bases of surface adsorbed DNA. The presence of edge planes of graphene at regular intervals along the walls of the bamboo nanotubes resulted in superior electrochemical performance relative to SWNT modified electrodes from two aspects. Firstly, with solution species the peak separation of the oxidation and reduction waves were smaller indicating more rapid rates of electron transfer. Secondly, a greater number of electroactive sites along the walls of the bamboo-carbon nanotubes (BCNTs) resulted in larger current signals and a broader dynamic range for the oxidation of DNA bases.     

二氧化钛纳米管阵列的构建及其光电催化性能

利用阳极氧化法制备了TiO2纳米管阵列, 研究了其光电化学性能, 并且应用该电极对偶氮染料催化降解进行了初步研究.     

Apparent 'electrocatalytic' activity of multiwalled carbon nanotubes in the detection of the anaesthetic halothane: occluded copper nanoparticles

The electrocatalytic detection of the anaesthetic halothane on a multiwalled carbon nanotube modified glassy carbon electrode is reported with a low limit of detection of 4.6 microM. A thorough investigation of the underlying cause of this apparent catalytic effect is undertaken by comparing the response of various carbon electrodes including glassy carbon, basal- and edge-plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes (bppg and eppg respectively) to increasing additions of halothane. The reduction of halothane is shifted by 250-300 mV to more negative potentials at an eppg electrode than that observed at the GC-CNT electrode. Therefore the results of this investigation show that, surprisingly, the electrocatalysis is not solely due to the introduction of edge-plane-like defect sites on the carbon nanotubes as is commonly found for many other substrates showing favourable voltammetry at nanotube modified electrodes. Instead, we reveal that in this unusual case the electroactive sites for the reduction of halothane are due to the presence of copper nanoparticles occluded within the carbon nanotubes during their production, which are never completely removed by standard purification techniques such as acid washing. This is only the third known case where apparent electrocatalysis by carbon nanotube modified electrodes is due to occluded metal-related nanoparticles within the nanotube structure, rather than the active sites being the edge-plane-like defect sites on the nanotubes. Furthermore this is the first case where the active sites are nanoparticles of copper metal, rather than metal oxide nanoparticles (namely oxides of iron(II)/(III)) as was found to be the case in the previous examples.     

Template-free directional growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes on a- and r-plane sapphire

We report high-throughput growth of highly aligned single-walled carbon nanotube arrays on a-plane and r-plane sapphire substrates. This is achieved using chemical vapor deposition with ferritin as the catalyst. The nanotubes are aligned normal to the [0001] direction for growth on the a-plane sapphire. They are typically tens of micrometers long, with a narrow diameter distribution of 1.34 +/- 0.30 nm. In contrast, no orientation was achieved for growth on the c-plane and m-plane sapphire, or when Fe films, instead of ferritin, were used as the catalyst. Such orientation control is likely related to the interaction between carbon nanotubes and the sapphire substrate, which is supported by the observation that when a second layer of nanotubes was grown, they followed the gas flow direction. These aligned nanotube arrays may enable the construction of integrable and scalable nanotube devices and systems.     

Electrochemical modification of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays

Electrochemical oxidation and reduction were utilized to modify vertically aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays grown on a porous network of conductive carbon microfibers. Ultrafast and complete CNT opening and purification were achieved through electrochemical oxidation. Highly dispersed platinum nanoparticles were then uniformly and densely deposited as electrocatalysts onto the surface of these CNTs through electrochemical reduction. Using supercritical drying techniques, we demonstrate that the unidirectionally aligned and laterally spaced geometry of the CNT arrays can be fully retained after being subjected to each step of electrochemical modification. The open-tipped CNTs can also be electrochemically detached in full lengths from the supporting substrates and harvested if needed.     

Electrodes modified with iron porphyrin and carbon nanotubes: application to CO2 reduction and mechanism of synergistic electrocatalysis

Electrodes modified with iron porphyrin and carbon nanotubes (FeP–CNTs) were prepared and used for CO₂ electroreduction. The adsorption of iron porphyrin onto the multiwalled carbon nanotubes was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and ultraviolet and visible spectroscopy. The electrochemical properties of the modified electrodes for CO₂ reduction were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and CO₂ electrolysis. The FeP–CNT electrodes exhibited less negative cathode potential and higher reaction rate than the electrodes modified only with iron porphyrin or carbon nanotubes. A mechanism of the synergistic catalysis was proposed and studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance. The direct electron transfer between iron porphyrin and carbon nanotubes was examined. The current study shed light on the mechanism of synergistic catalysis between CNTs and metalloporphyrin, and the iron porphyrin–CNT-modified electrodes showed great potential in the efficient CO₂ electroreduction.     

氧化铝模板上定向纳米碳管的快速生长及超声切短

在阳极氧化铝（AAO）模板上电沉积催化剂,快速生长了定向纳米碳管,纳米碳管以顶部生长模式生长.采用了超声的方法来切短露头于AAO模板的纳米碳管,增加纳米碳管膜的定向性.结果显示随着超声时间的增加,纳米碳管的定向性增加.位于纳米碳管膜顶部的催化剂在碳管切短的同时被去除,得到了顶部开口的纳米碳管.解释了纳米碳管被超声切短的机理.     

具有平整表面的定向纳米碳管膜的制备

为了获得表面平整的定向纳米碳管，通过化学及物理的方法将纳米碳管膜进行反转，使其原来的AAO模板底面成为新的表面，用溶液逐步去除表面的铝和氧化铝后，获得了平整的定向纳米碳管膜表面，从而可将其作为工作面使用. 还比较了5％NaOH和6%H₃PO₄＋1.8%H₂CrO₄溶液去除氧化铝的效果.     

Floating-potential dielectrophoresis-controlled fabrication of single-carbon-nanotube transistors and their electrical properties

We present a floating-potential dielectrophoresis method used for the first time to achieve controlled alignment of an individual semiconducting or metallic single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) between two electrical contacts with high repeatability. This result is significantly different from previous reports, in which bundles of SWCNTs were aligned between electrode arrays by a conventional dielectrophoresis process where the results were only collected from the control electrode regions. In this study, our alignment focus is not only on the regions of the control electrodes but also on those of the floating electrodes. Our results indicate that bundles of carbon nanotubes along with impurities were first moved into the region between two control electrodes while individual nanotubes without impurities were straightened and aligned between two floating electrodes. The measurements for the back-gated nanotube transistors made by this method displayed an on-off ratio and transconductance of 10(5) and 0.3 microS, respectively. These output and transport properties are comparable with those of nanotube transistors made by other methods. Most importantly, the findings in this study show an effective way to separate individual nanotubes from bundles and impurities and advance the processes for site-selective fabrication of single-SWCNT transistors and related electrical devices.     

三步升温法合成阵列碳纳米管

本文使用结构简单的单温炉设备, 以二茂铁/三聚氰胺混合物为原料, 采用独特的三步升温方法于光滑的SiO₂衬底上合成出了大面积的阵列碳纳米管, 并对碳纳米管的形貌和结构进行了研究.     

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.     

A facile and patternable method for the surface modification of carbon nanotube forests using perfluoroarylazides

A facile patterning method for the functionalization of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes is described. Modification of the surface of nanotube forests with hydrophilic, hydrophobic, or polymerizable small molecules was achieved via UV-triggered attachment of perfluoroarylazides. Multiple functionalizations of the tube surface can be achieved. Macro- and micropatterning of forest substrates were demonstrated. Superhydrophobic surfaces containing superhydrophilic regions were prepared.     

Electrospinning of polyvinylidene difluoride with carbon nanotubes: synergistic effects of extensional force and interfacial interaction on crystalline structures

Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) solutions containing a very low concentration of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) of similar surface chemistry, respectively, were electrospun, and the nanofibers formed were collected using a modified rotating disk collector. The polymorphic behavior and crystal orientation of the nanofibers were studied using wide-angle X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy, while the nanotube alignment and interfacial interactions in the nanofibers were probed by transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. It is shown that the interfacial interaction between the SWCNTs and PVDF and the extensional force experienced by the nanofibers in the electrospinning and collection processes can work synergistically to induce highly oriented beta-form crystallites extensively. In contrast, the MWCNTs could not be well aligned along the nanofiber axis, which leads to a lower degree of crystal orientation.     

Transferred vertically aligned N-doped carbon nanotube arrays: use in dye-sensitized solar cells as counter electrodes

We prepared vertically aligned nitrogen doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on a rigid glass substrate or flexible plastic substrate via a 'growth-detachment-transfer' process and the vertically aligned N-doped CNT arrays are employed as counter electrodes for novel dye-sensitized solar cells.     

电化学阻抗谱法研究铈改性TiO2纳米管阵列光电极裂解水产氢动力学

通过阳极氧化法在纯钛板上制备TiO2纳米管阵列电极.在光电化学电解池阳极中加入供电子物质乙二醇,显著减小了TiO2纳米管的电荷传递阻抗,促进了光电催化裂解水产氢反应.采用阴极电沉积和阳极氧化法制备了单质铈和氧化铈共同改性的TiO2纳米管阵列半导体光阳极,其平带电位向电负方向移动.采用电化学阻抗谱法(EIS)对改性后TiO2纳米管阵列在光电催化裂解水产氢中的电子传输性能以及界面性质进行了表征,确定了各阻抗弧对应的电极过程.采用合理的等效电路模型计算了电极的电子传输动力学参数.结果表明,经铈改性后的TiO2纳米管阵列膜电阻明显减小,有利于氢气的产生.探讨了单质铈与氧化铈促进TiO2纳米管阵列电荷传输的作用机理.