Aptamer-functionalized carbon nanomaterials electrochemical sensors for detecting cancer relevant biomolecules

Abstract As a class of low-dimensional materials, carbon nanomaterials which are mainly composed of sp 2 and sp 3 carbon atoms arranged into a seamless network have aroused considerable interest since the first exploration of fullerene by Smalley et al. in 1985. Owing to their extraordinary physical, chemical, electrical, optical, mechanical and thermal properties, carbon nanomaterials have found their wide applications in sensor, biomedicine, electrode, electrocatalysis, energy storage and conversions. Especially, with proper functionalization, carbon nanomaterials can be utilized to construct high performance electrochemical sensors for promising applications in medical diagnostics and therapies. Here, the recent progresses of electrochemical sensors based on carbon nanomaterials are reviewed. The structure related properties of carbon nanomaterials as well as the surface functionalization methods are briefly introduced. The detection mechanisms of carbon nanomaterials-based electrochemical sensors are comprehensively analyzed. Furthermore, the most recent achievements of nucleic acid aptamer functionalized carbon nanomaterials-based electrochemical biosensors for the detection of cancer relevant biomarkers including nucleic acids, protein and cells are overviewed. At the end, the future developments as well as the issues and challenges of the fabrication of carbon nanomaterials-based nucleic acid aptamer functionalized electrochemical biosensors are proposed.