(120f) Nanostructure Based Biomimetic Interfaces for Bioelectronic Applications

Nanosized functional particles represent an area of great research interest. In the field of biosensors and biocatalysis, nanosized materials offer the potential for extremely high surface area to volume ratio, thus allowing immobilization of large amounts of biomolecules per unit projected area. Carbon nanoparticles, such as fullerenes, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnPs), provide high conductivity and surface area without excessive diffusional resistance. These nanoparticles are widely used to prepare solid electrode systems and supporting substrates in electrochemical biosensors, due to their high chemical inertness and wide range of working potentials with low electrical resistance. We also try to exploit redox capabilities of enzymes to generate an electric signal which can be interpreted as analogous to presence of a certain analyte of interest. One of the self assembly techniques to immobilize enzymes onto the electrodes is layer-by-layer deposition, commonly abbreviated as LBL deposition technique. This paper will present techniques to fabricate biomimetic interfaces where we incorporate nanostructured materials like fullerenes and carbon nanotubes to enhance the performance of these interfaces.