Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
surface-modifications of CNTs by different methods and technologies
and with a wide range of functionalizing materials such as polymers,
metals, metal oxides, DNA, proteins, enzymes, antibodies, and
so on.
Generally, modified-CNTs offer an enhanced performance in
chemical detection related to raw material. The large variety of
functionalization methods and technologies combined to a wide
choice of functional materials make the modified CNTs one of the
most performing building blocks for gas micro-nanosensors and
sensor-arrays. However, challenges for the fabrication of reliable
commercial devices are still numerous and open. They include the
fundamental understanding of the sensing mechanisms and its
employment for engineered sensing nanomaterials, including the
development of specific, fast and stable gas nanosensors and sensor
arrays, optimization of numerical methods of signal processing to
analyze sensor-array output for pattern recognition applications,
the development of suitable manufacturing techniques enabling
mass-production of CNT-based sensors.
At the present, significant progress has been realized in these
sectors, but commercial devices based on CNTs will become
successful when these mentioned challenges become routine
and innovation with adequate technology transfer has occurred.
Decreased manufacturing costs, together with the incorporation of
available wireless technology in the sensor-systems may allow the
implementation of wireless sensor networks for accurate chemical
mapping of structures or large areas with low-cost single node/
sensor.
Furthermore, the current study of the CNT-based gas sensors
should move from the fundamental gas sensing performance in
laboratories toward real-world applications in actual working
scenario.
In addition, CNTs are very important platforms for biosensing
applications. Numerous reports fix remarkably these technical
questions showing high capability of the carbon-nanostructured
materials. In any case, despite the great opportunities in integrating
biomolecules with CNTs, these carbon-based nanomaterials are not
the answer for all applications in bio-nanotechnology. The biosensing
potential of these materials is enormous in medicine and biology,
but there are examples in literature that the application of the CNTs
gives no advantages compared to other technologies.
