Physical Surface Modification of Carbon-Nanotube/Polydimethylsiloxane Composite Electrodes for High-Sensitivity DNA Detection

The chemical modification of electrode surfaces has attracted significant attention for lowering the limit of detection or for improving the recognition of biomolecules; however, the chemical processes are complex, dangerous, and difficult to control. Therefore, instead of the chemical process, we physically modified the surface of carbon-nanotube/polydimethylsiloxane composite electrodes by dip coating them with functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (F-MWCNTs). These electrodes are used as working electrodes in electrochemistry, where they act as a recognition layer for sequence-specific DNA sensing through pi-pi interactions. The F-MWCNT-modified electrodes showed a limit of detection of 19.9 fM, which was 1250 times lower than that of pristine carbon/polydimethylsiloxane electrodes in a previous study, with a broad linear range of 1-1000 pM. The physically modified electrode was very stable during the electrode regeneration process after DNA detection. Our method paves the way for utilizing physical modification to significantly lower the limit of detection of a biosensor system as an alternative to chemical processes.