Vera Protopopova

Integrated Carbon Nanostructures for Detection of Neurotransmitters

Carbon-based materials, such as diamond-like carbon (DLC), carbon nanofibers (CNFs), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), are inherently interesting for neurotransmitter detection due to their good biocompatibility, low cost and relatively simple synthesis. In this paper, we report on new carbon-hybrid materials, where either CNTs or CNFs are directly grown on top of tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C). We show that these hybrid materials have electrochemical properties that not only combine the best characteristics of the individual “building blocks” but their synergy makes the electrode performance superior compared to conventional carbon based electrodes. By combining ta-C with CNTs, we were able to realize electrode materials that show wide and stable water window, almost reversible electron transfer properties and high sensitivity and selectivity for detecting dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid. Furthermore, the sensitivity of ta-C + CNF hybrids towards dopamine as well as glutamate has been found excellent paving the road for actual in vivo measurements. The wide and stable water window of these sensors enables detection of other neurotransmitters besides DA as well as capability of withstanding higher potentials without suffering from oxygen and hydrogen evolution.

Glutamate detection by amino functionalized tetrahedral amorphous carbon surfaces.

In this paper, a novel amperometric glutamate biosensor with glutamate oxidase (GlOx) immobilized directly on NH2 functionalized, platinum doped tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) film, has been successfully developed. First, we demonstrate that direct GlOx immobilization is more effective on amino-groups than on carboxyl- or hydroxyl-groups. Second, we show that anodizing and plasma treatments increase the amount of nitrogen and the proportion of protonated amino groups relative to amino groups on the aminosilane coating, which subsequently results in an increased amount of active GlOx on the surface. This effect, however, is found to be unstable due to unstable electrostatic interactions between GlOx and NH3(+). We demonstrate the detection of glutamate in the concentration range of 10µM-1mM using the NH2 functionalized Pt doped ta-C surface. The biosensor showed high sensitivity (2.9nA μM(-1)cm(-2)), low detection limit (10μM) and good storage stability. The electrode response to glutamate was linear in the concentrations ranging from 10µM to 500µM. In conclusion, the study shows that GlOx immobilization is most effective on aminosilane treated ta-C surface without any pre-treatments and the fabricated sensor structure is able to detect glutamate in the micromolar range.

Electrochemical detection of hydrogen peroxide on platinum-containing tetrahedral amorphous carbon sensors and evaluation of their biofouling properties

Hydrogen peroxide is the product of various enzymatic reactions, and is thus typically utilized as the analyte in biosensors. However, its detection with conventional materials, such as noble metals or glassy carbon, is often hindered by slow kinetics and biofouling of the electrode. In this study electrochemical properties and suitability to peroxide detection as well as ability to resist biofouling of Pt-doped ta-C samples were evaluated. Pure ta-C and pure Pt were used as references. According to the results presented here it is proposed that combining ta-C with Pt results in good electrocatalytic activity towards H2O2 oxidation with better tolerance towards aqueous environment mimicking physiological conditions compared to pure Pt. In biofouling experiments, however, both the hybrid material and Pt were almost completely blocked after immersion in protein-containing solutions and did not produce any peaks for ferrocenemethanol oxidation or reduction. On the contrary, it was still possible to obtain clear peaks for H2O2 oxidation with them after similar treatment. Moreover, quartz crystal microbalance experiment showed less protein adsorption on the hybrid sample compared to Pt which is also supported by the electrochemical biofouling experiments for H2O2 detection.

Effect of Ozone on Deposition of Titanium Oxide Films from Tetraisopropoxide

The effect of ozone on chemical vapor deposition of titanium dioxide films from titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) has been experimentally studied. The influence of process parameters on the growth rate, structural and optical properties of TiO2 films deposited in the TTIP–Ar, TTIP–O2–Ar and TTIP–O2–O3–Ar reaction systems have been compared taking into account the results of FTIR measurements of the reaction gas phase. Ozone allows to decrease minimal deposition temperature providing formation of high quality titanium dioxide films to 240 °C.