Researchers at Finland’s University of Turku have developed sensors from single-wall carbon nanotubes, which may be suited for continuous health monitoring.
The nanotubes are nanomaterial comprising a single atomic graphene layer.
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A key challenge in their production has been separating conductive from semi-conductive nanotubes, with differences in their chirality.
The nanotubes’ chemical and electric properties are significantly chirality-dependent.
The university’s materials engineering Collegium researcher Han Li developed methods for segregating nanotubes based on their chirality.
Researchers have now managed to differentiate between two very similar carbon nanotubes and detect their electrochemical properties.
With the carbon nanotubes’ purification and separation, the team has tested their difference as sensor materials.
Unlike typical hybrid sensors that combine nanotubes with a surfactant, the sensors in this study were made entirely from nanotubes.
The researchers also obtained precise control over the nanotubes’ concentration, allowing for a comparison of different chiralities.
The study revealed that certain types of nanotubes have a higher efficiency in adsorbing dopamine.
This adsorption capacity is crucial for detecting low concentrations of substances. The team is set to develop sensor materials that can identify lower concentrations than present technologies allow, such as blood glucose levels.
Materials engineering associate professor Emilia Peltola stated: “The molecules that we are interested in, such as female hormones, are present in the body in concentrations that are millions of times lower than glucose. In order to study hormone fluctuations, the accuracy of biosensors needs to be improved significantly.”
The research is the first to demonstrate that the sensor’s electrochemical response can be influenced by the chirality.
Future work could involve computational models to determine the optimal chirality for every measured molecule.
The university’s Materials in Health Technology group is dedicated to developing sensor technologies for healthcare applications.
They aim to create sensor materials that are sensitive and accurate and maintain functionality in biological environments.
