Boron-Enhanced Growth of Micron-Scale Carbon-Based Nanowalls: A Route toward High Rates of Electrochemical Biosensing

Abstract

In this study, we have demonstrated the fabrication of novel materials called boron-doped carbon nanowalls (B:CNWs), which are characterized by remarkable electrochemical properties such as high standard rate constant ( k °), low peak-to-peak separation value (Δ E ) for the oxidation and reduction processes of the [Fe(CN) 6 ] 3–/4– redox system, and low surface resistivity. The B:CNW samples were deposited by the microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using a gas mixture of H 2 /CH 4 /B 2 H 6 and N 2 . Growth results in sharp-edged, flat, and long CNWs rich in sp 2 as well as sp 3 hybridized phases. The achieved high values of k ° (1.1 × 10 –2 cm s –1 ) and Δ E (85 mV) are much lower compared to those of the glassy carbon or undoped CNWs. The enhanced electrochemical performance of the B:CNW electrode facilitates the simultaneous detection of DNA purine bases: adenine and guanine. Both separated oxidation peaks for the independent determination of guanine and adenine were observed by means of cyclic voltammetry or differential pulse voltammetry. It is worth noting that the determined sensitivities and the current densities were about 1 order of magnitude higher than those registered by other electrodes.