A critical review of Glucose biosensors based on Carbon nanomaterials: Carbon nanotubes and graphene

There has been an explosion of research into the physical and chemical properties of carbon-based nanomaterials, since the discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by Iijima in 1991. Carbon nanomaterials offer unique advantages in several areas, like high surface-volume ratio, high electrical conductivity, chemical stability and strong mechanical strength, and are thus frequently being incorporated into sensing elements. Carbon nanomaterial-based sensors generally have higher sensitivities and a lower detection limit than conventional ones. In this review, a brief history of glucose biosensors is firstly presented. The carbon nanotube and grapheme-based biosensors, are introduced in Sections 3 and 4, respectively, which cover synthesis methods, up-to-date sensing approaches and nonenzymatic hybrid sensors. Finally, we briefly outline the current status and future direction for carbon nanomaterials to be used in the sensing area. © 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Magnet-assisted assembly of 1-dimensional hollow PtCo nanomaterials on an electrode surface

In this work, rapid and controllable confinement of one-dimensional (1D) hollow PtCo nanomaterials on an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode surface was simply realized via magnetic attraction. The successful assembly was verified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry, which showed that a longer exposure time of the electrode to the suspension of these 1D hollow nanomaterials (magnetic suspension) led to a larger amount of attached 1D hollow PtCo nanomaterials.

Metal nanomaterials and carbon nanotubes - synthesis, functionalization and potential applications towards electrochemistry

This review focuses on the synthesis, assembly, surface functionalization, as well as application of inorganic nanostructures. Electrochemical and wet- chemical methods are demonstrated to be effective approaches to make metal nanostructures under control without addition of a reducing agent or protecting agent. Owing to the unique physical and chemical properties of the nano-sized materials, novel applications are introduced using inorganic nanomaterials, such as electrocatalysis, photoelectricity, spectrochemistry, and analytical chemistry.

The study of novel Fe3O4@gamma-Fe2O3 core/shell nanomaterials with improved properties

The surface structure of the iron oxide nanoparticles obtained by the co-precipitation method has been investigated, and a thin layer of alpha-FeOOH absorbed on surface of the nanoparticle is confirmed by analyses of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS). After annealed at 400 degrees C, the alpha-FeOOH can be converted to gamma-Fe2O3. The simple-annealed procedure resulted in the formation of Fe3O4@gamma-Fe2O3 core/shell structure with improved stability and a higher magnetic saturation value, and also the simple method can be used to obtain core/shell structure in other similar system.

Double-template synthesis of platinum nanomaterials for oxygen reduction

Gas bubble dynamic template, a new green and promising template, can be used to prepare nanostructured materials with different shapes from electrochemical deposition processes. Different morphological platinum nanomaterials have been synthesized by the replacement reaction of the deposited copper nanomaterials which were obtained under negative potential along with H-2 evolution (dynamic template) at a glassy carbon electrode. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electrochemical methods were adopted to characterize their structures and properties. The nanomaterials platinum exhibited excellent catalytic activity toward oxygen reduction. The results demonstrated that the strategy is a simple, cost-effective, and potent method to prepare platinum nanomaterials.

A simple method to prepare titania nanomaterials of core-shell structure, hollow nanospheres and mesoporous nanoparticles

A simple method to prepare titania nanomaterials of core-shell structure, hollow nanospheres and mesoporous nanoparticles has been developed. The core-shell nanostructures with NH4Cl as core and TiO2 center dot xH(2)O-NH4Cl as shell were prepared in nonaqueous system by the deposition on the surface of the aggregated NH4Cl crystals, which could be transformed into mesoporous anatase nanoparticles or hollow nanospheres by calcination at 500A degrees C or extraction with methanol, respectively. The hierarchical mesoporous nanostructures benefited the photocatalytic activities of the resultant titania nanomaterials, demonstrated by the UV light photodegradation of Methyl Orange.

A cunning strategy in design of polymeric nanomaterials with novel microstructures

A relative approach, based on the dynamic density functional theory, for simulating the solvent evaporation rate dependence of self-assembly process of block copolymers in solution is proposed. The di- and triblock copolymers are first chosen as the candidates for exploration of novel microstructures. The results reveal that asymmetrical block copolymers with unequal block length, which generally exhibit disordered microdomain patterns in melts, have the ability to assemble into periodic ordered microdomain patterns by properly controlling solvent evaporation rate, e.g., diblock copolymers may assemble into lamellar microstructures with lamellar thickness proportional to individual block length. This simulation suggests a strategy of design and manufacture of polymeric nanomaterials with novel microstructures.

Processible nanomaterials with high conductivity and magnetizability. Preparation and properties of maghemite/polyaniline nanocomposite films

A versatile process employing anionic surfactants has been developed for the preparation of processible nanocomposite films with electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility. Maghemite (g-Fe2O3) nanoclusters (similar to 10 nm in size) are coated with 4-dodecyl- benzenesulfonic acid, and polyaniline (PAn) chains are doped with 10-camphorsulfonic acid. The coated nanoclusters and doped polymers are soluble in common solvents, and casting the solutions readily gives free-standing nanocomposite films with nanocluster contents as high as similar to 50 wt %. The g-Fe2O3/PAn nanocomposites show high conductivity (82-337 S cm(-1)) and magnetizability (up to similar to 35 emu/g g-Fe2O3).