Damage-free remote SF6 plasma-treated CNTs for facile fabrication of electrochemical enzyme biosensors

Remote SF6 plasma treatment of CNTs is performed to graft hydrophobic fluorine on the surface of CNTs. Fluorinated CNTs (F-CNTs) allow for the facile adsorption of enzyme molecules via hydrophobic interaction between F-CNTs and the hydrophobic patches of enzyme molecules. The loading of glucose oxidase (GOx) on F-CNTs correlates well with plasma treatment time. Interestingly, the Rct value of GOx/F-CNTs decreases when CNTs are treated with plasma for a short time such as 1 and 5 min, which is due to weakly-bound chemisorbed fluorine molecules on F-CNTs (semi-ionic C-F). As an example, the Rct value of GOx/F-CNT electrode with 1 min plasma treatment is 0.57 times lower than that of GOx/CNTs, while increasing its sensitivity by 2.5 times. Upon extending the treatment time such as 30, 45 and 60 min, the XPS results reveal the dominance of covalently-attached fluorine, leading to marginally-increased resistance and sensitivity. It is worthy of noting this work is the first report of simple enzyme adsorption on remote-plasma treated CNT surfaces together with its detailed mechanism studies, especially for the binding of enzyme molecules semi-ionic fluorine.

Automated summary

Remote SF6 plasma treatment is used to graft hydrophobic fluorine on the surface of CNTs, allowing for the adsorption of enzyme molecules. The loading of GOx on F-CNTs is correlated with plasma treatment time, with shorter treatment times leading to lower Rct values and increased sensitivity. Extending the treatment time results in increased resistance and sensitivity due to the dominance of covalently-attached fluorine.