Abstract
Graphene provides a unique way of sensing the local pH level of substances on the micrometric scale, with important implications for the monitoring of cellular metabolic activities where proton excretion could occur. Accordingly, an innovative biosensing approach for the quantification of the pH value of biological fluids, to be used also with small amounts of fluids, was realized and tested. It is based on the use of micro-Raman spectroscopy to detect the modifications of the graphene doping level induced by the contact of the graphene with the selected fluids. The approach was preliminarily tested on aqueous solutions of known pH values. It was then used to quantify the pH values of cell culture media directly exposed to different doses of X-ray radiation and to media exposed to X-ray-irradiated cells. The Raman response of cells placed on graphene layers was also examined.
Highlights
Graphene is a new generation material, which is the basic structural element of other allotropes of carbon such as graphite, charcoal and fullerenes
The Raman response of graphene in contact with substances with different pH values was investigated by considering aqueous solutions of HCl or NaOH in the pH range from 2–14
The spectral position of the G peak was strongly correlated with the doping degree of the graphene
Summary
Graphene is a new generation material, which is the basic structural element of other allotropes of carbon such as graphite, charcoal and fullerenes. The electronic properties of graphene are due to its atomic structure. Its carbon atoms present a particular organization that permits the formation of π and π ∗ bands so that electrons are free to move along the material surface [9]. Thanks to these half-filled bands, charge carriers deposited on graphene’s surface are able to change the atomic structure of the material by the addition or the subtraction of valence electrons [10]. Graphene electronic properties can be exploited to investigate cells and biological fluids in order to develop a sensing scheme useful for diagnostic applications [11,12,13,14]. C.Paulus and coworkers [21]
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