Nanoscale biosensor for detection of volatile compounds using encapsulated SWCNTs.

Nanoscale sensing elements offer promise for single-molecule detection in physically or biologically constrained environments. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. Their advantage compared to other nanomaterials is due to a unique combination of electrical, optical, mechanical and chemical properties which are valuable for a wide range of applications, including biosensing. CNTs have a large surface area and tunable near-infrared emission that responds to changes in the local environment while remaining stable to permanent photo-bleaching. Single-walled carbon nanotubes emit near-infrared (NIR) bandgap photoluminescence (PL), which is highly responsive to its physical and chemical environment. SWCNT are unique among nanoscale sensor platforms in their ability to detect the adsorption of a single molecule. Non-covalently bound polymers could be used to achieve specificity to the certain analyte that upon binding to the polymer will change the properties of the nanotube-polymer, resulting in a change in the PL of SWCNTs. We aim towards the development of novel SWCNT biosensor standoff detection technology platform to identify volatile organic compounds. It made of peptide encapsulated SWCNTs, able to bind and react differently to specific volatile molecules.

We successfully developed a sensor that could distinguish between different types of volatile molecules.