The new age of carbon nanotubes: An updated review of functionalized carbon nanotubes in electrochemical sensors

Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), they have drawn considerable research attention and have shown great potential application in many fields due to their unique structural, mechanical, and electronic properties. However, their native insolubility severely holds back the process of application. In order to overcome this disadvantage and broaden the scope of their application, chemical functionalization of CNTs has attracted great interest over the past several decades and produced various novel hybrid materials with specific applications. Notably, the rapid development of functionalized CNTs used as electrochemical sensors has been successfully witnessed. In this featured article, the recent progress of electrochemical sensors based on functionalized CNTs is discussed and classified according to modifiers covering organic (oxygen functional groups, small organic molecules, polymers, DNA, protein, etc.), inorganic (metal nanoparticles, metal oxide, etc.) and organic-inorganic hybrids. By employing some representative examples, it will be demonstrated that functionalized CNTs as templates, carriers, immobilizers and transducers are promising for the construction of electrochemical sensors.