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Near-infrared optical sensors based on single-walled carbon nanotubes

Nature Materials volume 4, pages 86–92 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Molecular detection using near-infrared light between 0.9 and 1.3 eV has important biomedical applications because of greater tissue penetration and reduced auto-fluorescent background in thick tissue or whole-blood media. Carbon nanotubes have a tunable near-infrared emission that responds to changes in the local dielectric function but remains stable to permanent photobleaching. In this work, we report the synthesis and successful testing of solution-phase, near-infrared sensors, with β-D-glucose sensing as a model system, using single-walled carbon nanotubes that modulate their emission in response to the adsorption of specific biomolecules. New types of non-covalent functionalization using electron-withdrawing molecules are shown to provide sites for transferring electrons in and out of the nanotube. We also show two distinct mechanisms of signal transduction—fluorescence quenching and charge transfer. The results demonstrate new opportunities for nanoparticle optical sensors that operate in strongly absorbing media of relevance to medicine or biology.

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Figure 1: Non-covalent functionalization of SWNTs suspended using glucose oxidase (GOx) in solution.
Figure 2: Structure-dependant functionalization of glucose oxidase-suspended SWNTs using ferricyanide.
Figure 3: Elucidating the mechanism of signal transduction.
Figure 4: Synthesis of enzyme-suspended nanotubes.
Figure 5: Glucose detection using a carbon-nanotube optical sensor.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for funding from the National Science Foundation (grant no. CTS-0330350), the School of Chemical Sciences at UIUC, and a grant from the Molecular Electronics group, Dupont Co. The authors thank J. Bahr for providing the blood specimen.

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Author notes

  1. Paul W. Barone and Seunghyun Baik: These authors contributed equally

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, 600 S. Mathews Avenue, Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Paul W. Barone, Seunghyun Baik & Michael S. Strano

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, 505 S. Mathews Avenue, Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Daniel A. Heller

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  1. Paul W. Barone
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Correspondence to Michael S. Strano.

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Barone, P., Baik, S., Heller, D. et al. Near-infrared optical sensors based on single-walled carbon nanotubes. Nature Mater 4, 86–92 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1276

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