Electrochemical Sensing Applications of Nanomaterials

Dear Colleagues,

The scope of this Special Issue covers nanomaterials that are formed onto conductive substrates and exhibit enhanced response to changes in the electrolyte environment. Day by day, we observe the impressive development of various physico-chemical synthesis methods and characterization techniques that enable us to control the geometry of obtained materials and reveal their unique properties. It is common knowledge that within the nanoscale, morphology is strictly related to material properties, and those with at least one dimension within the nano-range possess excellent electrical, optical, thermal, and catalytic activity. Those features offer great opportunities to construct nanomaterial-based sensing platforms, e.g., for monitoring of drugs, sugar, and environmental pollution. Among others, noble and bimetallic metal nanoparticles, metal oxide nanorods, silicon nanopillars, boron-doped nanodiamonds, and both carbon and TiO₂ nanotubes have been recently explored. Those structures could be formed via different methods: sol–gel, physical vapour and atomic layer deposition, anodization, hydrothermal methods, or with the support of lithography. However, it should be kept in mind that, regarding expected electrochemical response, synthesis should enable the formation of the nanomaterial directly onto the conductive substrate or additional immobilization has to be applied. Such an approach ensures further charge collection. For complete investigations, the characterization of the material exhibiting sensing properties should include determination of the following parameters: sensitivity, linear range of response, and detection limit. Moreover, if possible, characterization of the electrochemical behaviour in the presence of a real sample would be beneficial.

In particular, topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Fabrication method of nanomaterials exhibiting increased sensitivity toward selected analytes;
• Nanomaterials modified with biological species, namely enzymes, and DNA strains exhibiting highly selective responses;
• Immobilization methods or usage of synthesis methods ensuring attachment of the nanomaterial to the conductive substrate enabling electrochemical readout;
• Usage of screen-printed electrodes as a facile approach toward further commercialization;
• Demonstration of the hybrid sensing performance, e.g., opto-electrochemical response, where both changes in optical and electrochemical response are used for detection.

Manuscript Submission Information

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• nanomaterials
• electrochemical methods
• sensitivity
• conducting substrate
• immobilization