?Fabrication and Electrochemical Characterization of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube Electrode for Application to Nano-electrochemical sensing

Abstract

In this study, we fabricated and electrochemically characterized two types of individual carbon nanotube electrodes: an as-produced multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) electrode and a modified MWNT electrode. As-produced MWNTs were electrically contacted with Au/Ti layers by using nanolithography and RF magnetron sputtering. Open-ended modified MWNT electrodes were fabricated by using a reactive ion etching treatment under an oxygen atmosphere. We also performed cyclic voltammetry measurements to detect aqueous dopamine solutions with dierent concentrations. We found that an individual MWNT electrode, which had a small eective area, showed good electrochemical performance. The electrocatalytic behavior of the modified electrode, which had “broken” open ends were better than that of the as-produced electrode with respect to sensitivity. The modified electrode was capable of detecting dopamine at the picomolar level. Therefore, an individual modified MWNT electrode has potential for applications to active components in nanobiosensors.