Strategies for enhancing the analytical performance of nanomaterial-based sensors

Abstract

We provide a state-of-the-art review of the main strategies for the enhancement of analytical performance of sensors using nanomaterials, particularly nanowires and carbon-based materials. We emphasize the way to overcome the problem of device-todevice variation. We discuss the study of the influence of nanomaterial characteristics, sensor dimensions and operational conditions on sensing performance, and the application of appropriate calibration models. ª

Simultaneous electrochemical sensing of thallium, lead and mercury using a novel ionic liquid/graphene modified electrode

“…Also, the recent emergence of nanomaterials has opened new horizons in designing electrochemical sensors based on CMEs [30,31]. Graphene (Gr), as a next generation electronic material, which is also the basic structure of all graphitic materials, is a one-atom-thick planar sheet of sp 2 bonded carbon atoms in a honeycomb crystal lattice.…”

Sensors at the micro-scale

“…Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted interest in biosensing applications [32][33][34][35]. For example, CNT biosensors were used for real-time detection of poly-L-lysine with a detection limit of ∼1 pM [32].…”

Perspective: Magnetoresistive sensors for biomedicine

“…Regardless the procedure, sensing techniques based on MNPs have several advantages in terms of analytical figures of merit, such as high signal-to-noise ratio, high sensitivity, and fast analysis time. 27,28 By immobilizing additional biomolecules onto the MNP's surface, a number of additional functionalities emerge, such as transport of these biomolecules to a specific location, e.g.., on-chip magnetic immunoseparation as well as measuring of biomolecular binding events. Additional advantages of magnetic biosensing are the natural lack of any detectable magnetic content in biological samples which enables the development of sensing systems with low background noise and, therefore, low limit of detection (LOD).…”