5 - Functionalized carbon nanomaterials in electrochemical detection

Abstract

Since the use of charcoal electrodes by Faraday, carbon has been extensively used and studied as an electrode material for various electrochemical applications. Recently, the emergence of novel nanostructured carbon materials has created great interest in research due to their outstanding properties toward electrochemical and catalytic applications. This change is greatly attributed to the synthesis of carbon materials in nanoscale and often leads to significant changes in the intrinsic property (of material). The nanostructured carbons have proven to have great potential applications in the fields of chemistry, materials science and biomedical sciences, etc., The 0, 1, 2, and 3D carbon nanomaterials such as carbon quantum dots, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon nanohorns, nanodiamonds, carbon nanofibres and carbon black, have exhibited intrinsic features for sensing applications. However, functionalization of carbon materials is needed to effectively tune/ tailor the properties of nanocarbons for electrochemical sensor applications for accurate and sensitive measurements. Nanocarbon-based electrochemical sensors have biocompatibility, better sensitivity, better selectivity, and lower limits of detection to detect a wide range of chemical to biological molecules. This book chapter aims to highlight the synthesis, functionalization, and applications of carbon-based electrochemical sensors used in our day-to-day life.