Hybrid carbon based nanomaterials for electrochemical detection of biomolecules

By combining different allotropic forms of carbon at the nanoscale it is possible to fabricate tailor made surfaces with unique properties. These novel materials have shown high potential especially in the electrochemical detection of different biomolecules, such as dopamine, glutamate and ascorbic acid, which are important neurotransmitters in the mammalian central nervous system. Thus, more information about their material properties must be obtained in order to realize their high potential to the maximum. The results presented in this review clearly point out that although there is an extensive amount of data available on the structural, chemical and electrochemical properties on different carbon nanoforms, the data are scattered, often inconsistent and even contradictory. Hybrid carbon nanomaterials are much less investigated than the individual allotropes, but based on the existing data they possess extremely interesting electrochemical properties. Thus, it is of utmost importance to carry out extensive step-by-step characterization of these materials by utilizing combination of detailed computational and experimental work. In this way it will become possible to avoid approaches to material design that are based solely on trial-and-error approach, which has, unfortunately, been more a rule than an exception.