Fumiyo Kurusu

Electrocatalytic Activity of Bamboo‐Structured Carbon Nanotubes Paste Electrode Toward Hydrogen Peroxide

Abstract In this report, we describe the finding that bamboo‐structured carbon nanotubes (CNT) showed superior electrocatalytic activity toward hydrogen peroxide. The slope of the calibration curve for hydrogen peroxide obtained with the bamboo‐structured CNT paste electrode was more than 20 times as large as the slopes obtained with hollow‐structured CNT paste and glassy carbon electrodes at an operating potential of −0.1 V, with no interfering reactions. Incorporation of glucose oxidase within the bamboo‐structured CNT paste electrode allows the selective detection of glucose in the presence of common interferents without using any permselective membranes. This excellent ability of the bamboo‐structured CNT paste electrode toward hydrogen peroxide is applicable to the development of other enzymatic biosensors.

The advantage of using carbon nanotubes compared with edge plane pyrolytic graphite as an electrode material for oxidase-based biosensors.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising materials for use in amperometric biosensors. The defect sites at their ends, and on their sidewalls, are considered to be edge plane-like defects and show high electrocatalytic activity toward several biological molecules. However, electrocatalytic activity toward H(2)O(2) has not been compared among bamboo-structured CNTs (BCNTs), which have many defect sites; hollow-structured CNTs (HCNTs), which have few defect sites; edge plane pyrolytic graphite (EPG); and traditional glassy carbon (GC). The advantages of using CNTs in electrodes for biosensors are still equivocal. To confirm the utility of CNTs, we analyzed the electrochemical performance of these four carbon electrodes. The slope of the calibration curve for H(2)O(2) at potentials of both +0.6 V and -0.1 V obtained with a BCNT paste electrode (BCNTPE) was more than 10 times greater than the slopes obtained with an HCNT paste electrode and a GC electrode, reflecting the BCNTs larger number of defect sites. Although the slope with the EPG electrode (EPGE) was about 40 times greater than that with BCNTPE at +0.6 V, the slopes with these two carbon electrodes were nearly equivalent at -0.1 V. EPGE demonstrated excessive electrochemical activity, detecting currents on the basis of consumption of oxygen and oxidation of ascorbic acid, even at -0.1 V. In contrast, BCNTPE could dominantly detect a cathodic current for H(2)O(2) at -0.1 V, even when interfering molecules were added. BCNTPE possesses appropriate electrochemical activity and is an effective electrode materials for developing interference-free oxidase-based biosensors operated by the application of an appropriate potential.