Cobalt nanoparticles decorated bamboo-like N-doped carbon nanotube as nanozyme sensor for efficient biosensing

In this work, Co nanoparticles decorated bamboo-like N-doped carbon nanotubes (Co-BNCNTs) were design, which exhibited excellent oxidase-mimicking activity and could be served as a novel signal amplification platform for dopamine (DA) sensing. Co nanoparticles (CoNPs) encapsulated in bamboo-like N-doped carbon nanotubes (BNCNTs) could prevent their self-aggregation and expose more active sites. Besides, the N-doping in carbon materials could adjust the charge density and increase active sites. Moreover, the synergistic effect between CoNPs and BNCNTs also could contribute to enhance catalytic activity. In a word, excellent electrical conductivity, large electrochemically active area, multiple catalytically active sites are beneficial for DA detection. The Co-BNCNTs/GCE biosensor showed good stability and selectivity, a wide detection range of 0.5-150 mu M, and a lower detection limit of 0.0342 mu M. The Co-BNCNTs sensor was employed to detect the DA in the actual sample, which displayed a potential application in clinical diagnosis. Furthermore, our study presented an effective way to the synthesis of metal nanoparticles encapsulated into CNTs catalysts as nanozymes for the application in biosensing.

Automated summary

In this work, Co nanoparticles decorated bamboo-like N-doped carbon nanotubes (Co-BNCNTs) were designed as a novel signal amplification platform for dopamine (DA) sensing. The Co-BNCNTs/GCE biosensor exhibited good stability, selectivity, a wide detection range, and a low detection limit. Furthermore, this study presented an effective method for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles encapsulated into CNTs catalysts as nanozymes for biosensing applications.