Present and future applications of carbon nanotubes to analytical science

Abstract

This article reviews the impact of carbon nanotubes on analytical science, and the main current and future applications of carbon nanotubes in this field. Given that it is necessary to solubilize carbon nanotubes for many applications, we consider the procedures developed to achieve this. The use of carbon nanotubes in analytical chemistry as a target analyte and as an analytical tool is also discussed. Chromatographic and electrophoretic methods used to separate and characterize carbon nanotubes are presented. The use of carbon nanotubes as an analytical tool in filters and membranes, as sorbent material for solid phase extraction, in electrochemical (bio)sensors, and in separation methods is discussed. It is clear that while nanotubes are being tested for use in many different fields, their truly enormous potential has yet to be realized in analytical chemistry.

Biosensors and Their Principles

“…Reading the literature, it can be claimed that CNTs is a very challenging materials for the preparation of electrochemical sensors due to these unique properties [26,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43].…”

Simultaneous Detection of Multi-DNAs and Antigens Based on Self-Assembly of Quantum Dots and Carbon Nanotubes

“…According to the number of graphene layers, CNTs are classified into single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) . Their lengths can range from several hundred nanometers to several micrometers, and the diameters from 0.2 to 2 nm for SWNTs and from 2 to 100 nm for coaxial MWNTs (Valcarcel et al, 2005). So far, CNTs has been used as an analytical tool to improving the analytical process (Valcarcel et al, 2007).…”

Application of Carbon Sorbents for the Concentration and Separation of Metal Ions

“…88 The surface, made up of hexagonal arrays of carbon atoms in graphene sheets, interacts strongly with the benzene rings of aromatic compounds. [89][90][91] Carbon nanotubes have also great analytical potential as a solid phase extraction adsorbent for metal ions.…”