Graphene and its composites are widely investigated as supercapacitor electrodes due to their large specific surface area. However, the severe aggregation and disordered alignment of graphene sheets ...hamper the maximum utilization of its surface area. Here we report an optimized structure for supercapacitor electrode, i.e., the vertical graphene sheets, which have a vertical structure and open architecture for ion transport pathway. The effect of morphology and orientation of vertical graphene on the performance of supercapacitor is examined using a combination of model calculation and experimental study. Both results consistently demonstrate that the vertical graphene electrode has a much superior performance than that of lateral graphene electrode. Typically, the areal capacitances of a vertical graphene electrode reach 8.4 mF/cm2 at scan rate of 100 mV/s; this is about 38% higher than that of a lateral graphene electrode and about 6 times higher than that of graphite paper. To further improve its performance, a MnO2 nanoflake layer is coated on the surface of graphene to provide a high pseudocapacitive contribution to the overall areal capacitance which increases to 500 mF/cm2 at scan rate of 5 mV/s. The reasons for these significant improvements are studied in detail and are attributed to the fast ion diffusion and enhanced charge storage capacity. The microscopic manipulation of graphene electrode configuration could greatly improve its specific capacitance, and furthermore, boost the energy density of supercapacitor. Our results demonstrate that the vertical graphene electrode is more efficient and practical for the high performance energy storage device with high power and energy densities.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The aim of this review is to summarize the most relevant contributions in the development of electrochemical sensors based on carbon materials in the recent years. There have been increasing numbers ...of reports on the first application of carbon derived materials for the preparation of an electrochemical sensor. These include carbon nanotubes, diamond like carbon films and diamond film-based sensors demonstrating that the particular structure of these carbon material and their unique properties make them a very attractive material for the design of electrochemical biosensors and gas sensors.
Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have become one of the most extensively studied nanostructures because of their unique properties. CNT can enhance the electrochemical reactivity of important biomolecules and can promote the electron-transfer reactions of proteins (including those where the redox center is embedded deep within the glycoprotein shell). In addition to enhanced electrochemical reactivity, CNT-modified electrodes have been shown useful to be coated with biomolecules (e.g., nucleic acids) and to alleviate surface fouling effects (such as those involved in the NADH oxidation process). The remarkable sensitivity of CNT conductivity with the surface adsorbates permits the use of CNT as highly sensitive nanoscale sensors. These properties make CNT extremely attractive for a wide range of electrochemical sensors ranging from amperometric enzyme electrodes to DNA hybridization biosensors. Recently, a CNT sensor based fast diagnosis method using non-treated blood assay has been developed for specific detection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) (human liver diseases, such as chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma caused by hepatitis B virus). The linear detection limits for HBV plasma is in the range 0.5–3.0
µL
−
1
and for anti-HBVs 0.035–0.242
mg/mL in a 0.1
M NH
4H
2PO
4 electrolyte solution. These detection limits enables early detection of HBV infection in suspected serum samples. Therefore, non-treated blood serum can be directly applied for real-time sensitive detection in medical diagnosis as well as in direct
in vivo monitoring.
Synthetic diamond has been recognized as an extremely attractive material for both (bio-) chemical sensing and as an interface to biological systems. Synthetic diamond have outstanding electrochemical properties, superior chemical inertness and biocompatibility. Recent advances in the synthesis of highly conducting nanocrystalline-diamond thin films and nano wires have lead to an entirely new class of electrochemical biosensors and bio-inorganic interfaces. In addition, it also combines with development of new chemical approaches to covalently attach biomolecules on the diamond surface also contributed to the advancement of diamond-based biosensors. The feasibility of a capacitive field-effect EDIS (electrolyte-diamond-insulator-semiconductor) platform for multi-parameter sensing is demonstrated with an O-terminated nanocrystalline-diamond (NCD) film as transducer material for the detection of pH and penicillin concentration. This has also been extended for the label-free electrical monitoring of adsorption and binding of charged macromolecules. One more recent study demonstrated a novel bio-sensing platform, which is introduced by combination of a) geometrically controlled DNA bonding using vertically aligned diamond nano-wires and b) the superior electrochemical sensing properties of diamond as transducer material. Diamond nano-wires can be a new approach towards next generation electrochemical gene sensor platforms.
This review highlights the advantages of these carbon materials to promote different electron transfer reactions specially those related to biomolecules. Different strategies have been applied for constructing carbon material-based electrochemical sensors, their analytical performance and future prospects are discussed.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
A high-performance supercapacitor based on Ni(OH)2 nanoflakes modified ZnO nanowires (NWs) was developed. The well-aligned ZnO NWs were synthesized by chemical bath deposition, followed by pulse ...electrodeposition of Ni(OH)2 nanoflakes on the surface of ZnO NWs at 1 mA cm−2 current density. The effects of the pulse electrodeposition conditions were systematically investigated. Both the pulse time and relaxation time were found to affect the size and interspacing of the nanoflakes, while the deposition cycle number determines the thickness of the Ni(OH)2 nanoflake shell. The ZnO/Ni(OH)2 nanocomposite electrode fabricated under the optimal pulse electrodeposition conditions has exhibited a large specific capacitance of 1830 F g−1, a high energy density of 51.5 Wh kg−1, and a high power density of 9 kW kg−1, revealing its potential application in electrochemical capacitors.
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•Ni(OH)2 nanoflakes are grown on ZnO nanowires by pulse electrodeposition.•The current on-time and off-time affect the size and interspacing of nanoflakes.•Well dispersed Ni(OH)2 nanoflakes facilitate the diffusion of electrolyte.•The ZnO/Ni(OH)2 nanocomposite electrode shows high Cs and good cycle-retention.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
A highly selective, sensitive, and stable non-enzymatic glucose sensor based on Ni hydroxide modified nitrogen-incorporated nanodiamonds (Ni(OH)2-NND) was developed. The sensor was fabricated by ...e-beam evaporation of a thin Ni film on NND followed by the growth of Ni(OH)2 using an electrochemical process. It was found that the Ni film thickness greatly affects the morphology and electro-catalytic activity of the as-synthesized electrode for non-enzymatic glucose oxidation. Owing to its nanostructure characteristics, the best sensor fabricated by 150 nm Ni deposition showed two wide response ranges, namely, 0.02-1 mM and 1-9 mM, with sensitivities of 3.20 and 1.41 mA mM(-1) cm(-2), respectively, and a detection limit of 1.2 μM (S/N = 3). The sensor also showed good long-term stability as well as high selectivity in the presence of interferences such as ascorbic acid, acetaminophen, and uric acid. This finding reveals the possibility of exploiting the NND as an electrochemical biosensor platform where high performance addressable sensor arrays could be built.
The conventional lithium-ion battery fabrication process involves mixing of the active cathode material with additives and tape casting on metallic current collectors. The thickness of this layer ...limits the performance of the cathode. In this work, a novel cathode platform is presented consisting of a micropatterned array of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on aluminum (Al) foil that serves as host for active cathode powders. This highly conductive three-dimensional structure provides a high specific surface area to support greater mass loading capable of achieving high energy and power densities. The feasibility of this structure was demonstrated by using commercially available lithium iron phosphate (LFP) powder which was processed and dispersed using two different techniques—vibration-assisted drip-coating and electrophoretic deposition. A high specific capacity of 143 mAh/g at 3.4 V was achieved at C/20 rate for the novel cathode fabricated using electrophoretic deposition, which seemed superior to vibration-assisted drip coating with its easier application, more uniform particle coating, stronger particle attachment to the CNTs, and better electrochemical performance. In addition, CNT array on Al has been demonstrated to be a viable candidate for fabricating cathodes for energy storage applications without the need for any additives and/or binders.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a potential biomarker whose elevated levels in humans determine cardiovascular disease risk and inflammation. In this study, we have developed a novel capacitive biosensor ...for detection of CRP-antigen using capacitor with interdigitated gold (GID) electrodes on nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) surface. The NCD surface served as a dielectric layer between the gold electrodes. GID-surface was functionalized by antibodies and the immobilization was confirmed by Fourier transform spectroscopy (FT-IR) and contact angle measurements. The CRP-antigen detection was performed by capacitive/dielectric-constant measurements. The relaxation time and polarizability constants were estimated using Cole–Cole model. Our results showed that the relaxation time constant (τ) of only CRP-antibody was within 10−16–10−13s, which was increased to 10−11s after the incubation with CRP-antigen, suggesting that the CRP-antigen was captured by the antibodies on GID-surface. In addition, polarizability constant (m) of CRP was also increased upon incubation with increasing concentration of CRP-antigen. Our results showed that the response of GID-NCD-based capacitive biosensor for CRP-antigen was dependent on both concentration (25–800ng/ml) as well as frequency (50–350MHz). Furthermore, using optimized conditions, the GID-NCD based capacitive biosensor developed in this study can potentially be used for detection of elevated levels of protein risk markers in suspected subjects for early diagnosis of disease.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
In this study, we have developed a novel capacitive biosensor based on interdigitated gold nanodiamond (GID-NCD) electrode for detection of C-reactive protein (CRP) antigen. CRP is one of the plasma ...proteins known as acute-phase proteins and its levels rise dramatically during inflammatory processes occurring in the body. It has been reported that CRP in serum can be used for risk assessment of cardiovascular diseases. The antibodies immobilization were confirmed by fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR) and contact angle measurements. In this capacitive biosensor, nanocrystalline diamond acting as a dielectric layer between the electrodes. The CRP antigen detection was performed by capacitive/dielectric-constant measurements. Our results showed that the response of NCD-based capacitive-based biosensor for CRP antigen was dependent on both concentration (25–800
ng/ml) as well as frequency (50–350
MHz). Furthermore, using optimized conditions, the biosensors developed in this study can be potentially used for detection of elevated level of risk markers protein in suspected subjects for early diagnosis of disease.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Diamond cold-cathode devices have demonstrated significant potential as electron field emitters. Ultra-sharp diamond pyramidal tips (~5nm tip radius) have been fabricated, and show improvement in ...emission when compared to conventional field emitters. However, the emission mechanisms in these complex diamond nanostructures are not well understood. Transmission electron microscopy performed in this study provides new insight into tip structure and composition with implications for field emission and diamond growth.
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► TEM study of pyramidal CVD diamond field emitters. ► Developed process for analysis of surface features without graphitization. ► Examined sub-surface cross-section to offer feedback for growth parameter conditions. ► Observed voids in diamond structure lacking explanation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
This paper presents a comprehensive review of diamond electronics from the RF perspective. Our aim was to find and present the potential, limitations and current status of diamond semiconductor ...devices as well as to investigate its suitability for RF device applications. While doing this, we briefly analysed the physics and chemistry of CVD diamond process for a better understanding of the reasons for the technological challenges of diamond material. This leads to Figure of Merit definitions which forms the basis for a technology choice in an RF device/system (such as transceiver or receiver) structure. Based on our literature survey, we concluded that, despite the technological challenges and few mentioned examples, diamond can seriously be considered as a base material for RF electronics, especially RF power circuits, where the important parameters are high speed, high power density, efficient thermal management and low signal loss in high power/frequencies. Simulation and experimental results are highly regarded for the surface acoustic wave (SAW) and field emission (FE) devices which already occupies space in the RF market and are likely to replace their conventional counterparts. Field effect transistors (FETs) are the most promising active devices and extremely high power densities are extracted (up to 30 W/mm). By the surface channel FET approach 81 GHz operation is developed. Bipolar devices are also promising if the deep doping problem can be solved for operation at room temperature. Pressure, thermal, chemical and acceleration sensors have already been demonstrated using micromachining/MEMS approach, but need more experimental results to better exploit thermal, physical/chemical and electronic properties of diamond.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
We have applied diamond chemical sensor to detect benzene (C
6H
6) and toluene (C
7H
8), volatile organic compounds and possible indication of environmental hazard and petroleum in soil/subsoil. ...Steady-state and transient responses of the sensor for both gases have been studied. These studies have shown that the sensor shows a large sensitivity, fast response, high selectivity, wider dynamic range, repeatable/reproducible response for benzene and toluene gases. The detection mechanisms of the sensor for both gases have been analyzed and models have been developed. Activation energy analysis of the sensor for both gases resulted in a very small values, confirming fast response and high sensitivity. Furthermore, the effects of structural properties of the sensor and temperature on gas sensing performance have been studied and a structurally optimum sensor has been presented in this study.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
