A comparison of the performance of voltammetric aptasensors for glycated haemoglobin on different carbon nanomaterials-modified screen printed electrodes

The integration of carbon nanomaterials into electrochemical aptasensors has gained significant interest in the recent years because of their high electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, and large surface area. However, no comparative study has been reported so far between different carbon nanomaterials for aptasensing applications. Here, we report, a comparative investigation of six carbon electrode materials (carbon, graphene (G), graphene oxide (GO), multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT), single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and carbon nanofiber (CNF)) on the performance of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) aptasensor prepared by physical adsorption. The aptamers were non-covalently immobilized on the six nanomaterial electrodes via pi-pi stacking interactions between the DNA nucleobases and the surface of the carbon material which creates a barrier to the electron transfer. However, upon binding of the target protein to the aptamer, the aptamer dissociates from the surface leading to enhancement of the electron transfer which represent the basis of the detection. The aptamer adsorption, sensors responses and selectivity of the different nanomaterials were compared showing better performance of the SWCNT-based sensor. The voltammetric SWCNT aptasensors showed high sensitivity and selectivity with detection limits of 0.13 pg/mL and 0.03 pg/mL for total haemoglobin (tHb) and HbA1c, respectively. The aptasensor showed selectivity against other proteins in the blood including cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), survival motor neuron (SMN), dedicator of cytokinesis 8 (DOCK8), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). This SWCNT aptasensor was superior to the reported detection assays for HbAlc in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and cost. Moreover, our results demonstrate that the choice of the carbon nanomaterial can have a profound impact on the biosensing performance.