Surface nanotube attachment

The value of such substrates cannot be evaluated without their inclusion into sample preparation. In our case, we tested them by preparing a sample with attached carbon nanotubes. If their morphology has to be evaluated, we have to use flat surfaces, which do not temper their actual properties, measured on the nanoscale. In our study, the substrates and samples were evaluated using two different t5rpes of microscopy, namely the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and AFM. Figure 9 shows the improvement from not annealed to annealed surface with attached test molecules. 

In this work, simple (single-use) biosensors with a layer double stranded (ds) calf thymus DNA attached to the surface of screen-printed carbon electrode assembly have been prepared. The sensor efficiency was significantly improved using nanostructured films like carbon nanotubes, hydroxyapatite and montmorillonite in the polyvinylalcohol matrix. 

Electron irradiation (100 keV) of the sample, heated to 800°C, yields MWCNTs (20-100 nm in length) attached to the surface. Such nanotube growth does not take place if natural graphite, carbon nanoparticles or PTFE are subjected to electron irradiation. The result implies that the material may be a unique precursor for CNTs and may constitute a new preparation method. 

These problems have been improved in recent years by the microfabrication of sharp tips with radii less than 10 nm, the observation in an SEM or STEM of the exact radius before and after the experiment, the use of robust carbon-nanotube probes, and general improvements in control electronics. However, another method used initially was the attachment of a small colloid particle in place of the AFM tip. These particles were considered a reasonably good approximation to a single-asperity contact their radii were accurately known and remained the same for the duration of the experiment. Such probes have also been used to investigate colloids where surface roughness is an important aspect of the colloid interaction. 

Figure 17.4 Cartoon representation of strategies for studying and exploiting enzymes on electrodes that have been used in electrocatalysis for fuel cells, (a) Attachment or physisorption of an enzyme on an electrode such that redox centers in the protein are in direct electronic contact with the surface, (b) Specific attachment of an enzyme to an electrode modified with a substrate, cofactor, or analog that contacts the protein close to a redox center. Examples include attachment of the modifier via a conductive linker, (c) Entrapment of an enzyme within a polymer containing redox mediator molecules that transfer electrons to/from centers in the protein, (d) Attachment of an enzyme onto carbon nanotubes prepared on an electrode, giving a large surface area conducting network with direct electron transfer to each enzyme molecule.

The vast majority of functionalization methods of carbon nanotubes belong to two broad categories (a) covalent and (b) noncovalent functionalization of the external CNT surface. The former is achieved by covalent attachment of functional groups to the C-C double bond of the n-conjugated framework. The latter is based on the adsorption through van der Waals type bonds of various functional entities. 

In the third route of integration of nanocarbons in FRPCs, carbon nanotubes are radially attached to the surface of the fibers, typically grown in situ by chemical vapor... 

Accordingly, many reactions can be performed on the sidewalls of the CNTs, such as halogenation, hydrogenation, radical, electrophilic and nucleophilic additions, and so on [25, 37, 39, 42-44]. Exhaustively explored examples are the nitrene cycloaddition, the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction (with azomethinylides), radical additions using diazonium salts or radical addition of aromatic/phenyl primary amines. The aryl diazonium reduction can be performed by electrochemical means by forming a phenyl radical (by the extrusion of N2) that couples to a double bond [44]. Similarly, electrochemical oxidation of aromatic or aliphatic primary amines yields an amine radical that can be added to the double bond on the carbon surface. The direct covalent attachment of functional moieties to the sidewalls strongly enhances the solubility of the nanotubes in solvents and can also be tailored for different... 

Since it was initially reported [21], several methods have been presented in order to attach DNA onto CNTs, including adsorption. First, transmission electron microscopy showed that the DNA molecules tended to cover the surface of the nanotubes evenly, suggesting a strong interaction with the carbon surface [24]. 

Chemical and Genetic Probes—Nanotube-tipped atomic force microscopes can trace a strand of DNA and identify chemical markers that reveal DNA fine structure. A miniaturized sensor has been constructed based on coupling the electronic properties of nanotubes with the specific recognition properties of immobilized biomolecules by attaching organic molecules handles to these tubular nanostructures. In one study, the pi-electron network on the CNT is used to anchor a molecule that irreversibly adsorbs to the surface of the SWNT. The anchored molecules have a tail to which proteins, or a variety of other... 

The reactivity or inherent toxicity of chemical substances introduced together with CNT. They can be located inside nanotubes or attached to their external surface. This factor is related to the surface area-to-mass ratio of nanoparticles. The higher the ratio, the more likely is the negative impact. 

Nanotubes are functionalised to improve their solubility in water or to attach to their surface biologically active substances such as peptides and drugs. The ability to attach biological substances has raised an interest in using nanotubes as carriers for delivery of drugs and vaccines. A number of researchers performed functionalization of CNT with physiologically active molecules and macro-objects. These results are summarized in Table 2.3 [30 0]. 

Beautiful and quite detailed measurements with different results on shorter molecules were reported by Watanabe et al. [61] and Shigematsu et al. [62] using a rather sophisticated technique. A short, single DNA molecule was contacted with a triple-probe AFM. The DNA molecule was laid on the surface and contacted with a triple-probe AFM consisting of 3 CNTs. Two of them, 20 nm apart, were attached to the AFM (see Fig. 8c). In one case, voltage was applied between the nanotube on one side of the molecule and the tip nanotube that contacted the DNA molecule at a certain distance from the side electrode, so that the dependence of the current on the DNA length was... 

An other interesting strategy is the modification of the surface of the electrodes with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) or single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) [13,32]. The MWNTs are grown on the electrodes covered with a nickel catalyst film by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition and encapsulated in Si02 dielectrics with only the end exposed at the surface to form an inlaid nanoelectrode array [13]. In the other case, commercial SWNTs are deposited on SPE surface by evaporation [32], The carbon nanotubes are functionalised with ssDNA probes by covalent attachment. This kind of modification shows a very efficient hybridisation and, moreover, the carbon nanotubes improve the analytical signal. 

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