Covalent Chemical and Electrochemical Modification of Carbon Nanotubes by Redox Probes for Biosensor Applications

Mohamed A. Ghanema, Izzet Kocakb, Abdullah Al-Mayoufc, Mansour AlHoshand, Philip N. Bartlettb
b

Jubail University College, Jubail Industrial City, KSA School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK c Chemistry Dept., Science College, King Saud University, KSA d Chemical Eng. Dept., Eng. College, King Saud University, KSA Email: Ghanemm@ucj.edu.sa

The surface modification of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with monolayer of specific chemical functional groups has received great interest for potential applications in molecular electronics, biosensors, surface adhesion and electrocatalysts. In this work, electrochemical and solid phase synthesis methods have been used to covalently bond an organic monolayer linker and redox probe to the surfaces of carbon nanotubes[1]. After abrasive immobilization of CNTs to the glassy carbon electrode, the linker layer was covalently attached to the CNTs either by electrochemical reduction of PhCH 2NHBoc diazonium salt or oxidation of Boc-EDA. After the Boc group deprotection, a selection of organic redox probes such as anthraquinone (Fig.1), nitrobenzene and dihydroxy benzene are attached to the spacer layer by amid coupling reaction using solid-phase synthesis. The surface coverage, stability, electron transfer coefficient and rate of the tethered probe have been investigated by electrochemical techniques. The resulting dihydroxy benzene modified CNTs were evaluated as a mediators for the oxidation of NADH. The combination of electrochemical attachment of protected linkers and subsequent modifications using solid-phase synthesis provides a very versatile approach for attaching a wide range of organic moieties onto different types of carbon surface.
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Fig.1. Cyclic voltammograms at scan rate of 50 mV s1 in 0.1 M PBS, pH 7, for CNTs modified by AQ through PhCH2NH spacer layer. Acknowledgment: This project is funded by National Plan for Science and Technology (NPST), King Saud University, Project no: 10-NAN101402. [1] M. A. Ghanem, J.M. Chrtien, J. D. Kilburn, P. N. Bartlett, J. Mater. Chem., 18 (2008) 4917; Chemistry Eur. J., 14 (2008) 2548; Bioelectrochemistry, 76, (2009) 115; Chemistry Eur. J., 15, (2009) 11928.