Novel carbon materials in biosensor systems

In this work, novel carbon materials are evaluated as transducers, stabilizers and mediators for the construction of amperometric biosensors. It is shown that materials such as fullerenes and carbon nanotubes are promising materials as electrochemical mediators and enzyme stabilizers. Additionally porous carbon and porous glassy carbon are excellent transducers for amperometric measurements, while they provide cavities adequate for enzyme immobilization. At the same time, the sensitivity to peroxide is shown to depend on the activation procedures. Treatment that introduces oxygen groups increases the sensitivity of the carbon-based sensor to hydrogen peroxide considerably. These materials are used for the construction, mediation and stabilization of glucose biosensor. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.