Carbon nanotubes coated with hybrid nanocarbon layers for electrochemical sensing of psychoactive drug

Abstract

Heteroatom and transition metal borides-doped carbon nanomaterials provide a simple, yet powerful sensing platform when combined with electrochemical sensing technologies. However, there is a large unmet need for reliable and portable psychoactive drug measurement systems for environmental science or criminal investigation applications. Herein, a highly sensitive portable electrochemical sensing platform was designed for the psychoactive drug. Building on this we combine heteroatom (N) and transition metal borides (WB) in a carbon nanotube to form a high performance sensing for the detection of heroin. Moreover, this creates an electrochemical sensor for heroin that is capable of being run by the flexible screen printing electrode (SPE). Importantly, the experimental results were in excellent agreement with our proposed model, which creates hybrid nanocarbon layers of differing charge densities and abundant active sites on the surface of the carbon nanocomposites. The density and diameter of these zones also affect both the viability and sensitivity of the assay. In a proof-of-concept study, this approach allows the interrogation of the real samples from the natural water environment, and then which highlights the enlightenment and considerations for the future design of electrode materials and construction of sensors.