title: Carbon nanotubes as optical biomedical sensors.
abstract: Biosensors are important tools in biomedical research. Moreover, they are becoming an essential part of modern healthcare. In the future, biosensor development will become even more crucial due to the demand for personalized-medicine, point-of care devices and cheaper diagnostic tools. Substantial advances in sensor technology are often fueled by the advent of new materials. Therefore, nanomaterials have motivated a large body of research and such materials have been implemented into biosensor devices. Among these new materials carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are especially promising building blocks for biosensors due to their unique electronic and optical properties. Carbon nanotubes are rolled-up cylinders of carbon monolayers (graphene). They can be chemically modified in such a way that biologically relevant molecules can be detected with high sensitivity and selectivity. In this review article we will discuss how carbon nanotubes can be used to create biosensors. We review the latest advancements of optical carbon nanotube based biosensors with a special focus on near-infrared (NIR)-fluorescence, Raman-scattering and fluorescence quenching.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kruss
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hilmer
authors.forename: Jingqing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Nigel F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Reuel
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Strano
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D057285:Precision Medicine / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D006108:Graphite
keywords: Biosensors; Carbon nanotubes; Fluorescence sensors; Optical sensors; Raman spectroscopy; SWCNT; SWNT; Single-molecule detection