Electrochemical growth of gold nanoparticles on horizontally aligned carbon nanotubes: a new platform for ultrasensitive DNA sensing

A new platform based on electrochemical growth of Au nanoparticles on horizontally aligned single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) array was developed for ultrasensitive DNA detection. The as-prepared DNA-functionalized SWCNT-Au platform, in which every gold-coated SWCNT acts as an isolated micro electrode, could detect lower than 10 zmol complimentary 10-base DNA, which corresponded to having 6 DNA molecules in a 1 mL sample solution. For a 1-base mismatched DNA, the experimental detection limit was 100 amol. A linear relationship between the change of charge transfer resistance and target DNA concentration was achieved at low concentration range. Over the extended DNA concentration range, the change of charge transfer resistance was found to have a linear relationship with respect to the logarithm of the target DNA concentration. The sensor also showed great stability and could be conveniently regenerated via dehybridization in hot water. The significant improvement in sensitivity illustrates that combining Au nanoparticles with the on-site fabricated SWCNT array represents a promising platform for achieving ultrasensitive biosensor.