2D carbon network arranged into high-order 3D nanotube arrays on flexible microelectrode: integrated in electrochemical micro-biosensor devices for cancer detection

Abstract

In this work, we develop a new type of mesoporous 2D N, B, P co-doped carbon network (NBP-CNW) arranged into high-order 3D nanotube arrays (NTAs), which is wrapping onto flexible carbon fiber microelectrode and employed as high-performance carbon-based nanocatalyst for electrochemical biosensing. NBP-CNW-NTAs synthesized by a facile, controllable, eco-friendly and sustainable template strategy using ionic liquids as precursors possess high structural stability, large surface area, abundant active sites, and effective charge transport pathways, these dramatically improve their electrocatalytic activity and durability to redox reaction of cancer biomarker H2O2. Benefiting from the unique structural merits, superb electrochemical activity and good biocompatibility, the NBP-CNW-NTAs modified microelectrode demonstrates excellent sensing performances towards H2O2, and can be embed in a homemade microfluidic electrochemical biosensor chip for real-time tracking H2O2 secreted from different live cancer cells with or without radiotherapy treatment, which provides a new strategy to distinguish the types of cancer cells and evaluate the radiotherapeutic efficacy to cancer cells. Furthermore, the functional microelectrode has been integrated into an implantable probe for in situ detection of surgically resected human specimens to identify cancer tissues from the normal one. These will be of vital significance for cancer diagnoses and therapy in clinic practice.