Rapid Iodine Sensing on Mechanically Treated Carbon Nanofibers

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 18; no. 5; p. 1486
• Main Authors: Cho, Eunbyul, Perebikovsky, Alexandra, Benice, Olivia, Holmberg, Sunshine, Madou, Marc, Ghazinejad, Maziar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 09.05.2018; MDPI
• Subjects: Carbon fibers; carbon microstructure; carbon nanofiber; Electrochemical analysis; electrochemical sensor; Electrodes; Electron transfer; Iodine; iodine deficiency; Nanofibers; point-of-care; Sensors; Urine; iodine deficiency; electrochemical sensor; carbon nanofiber; carbon microstructure; point-of-care
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s18051486

In this work, we report on a rapid, efficient electrochemical iodine sensor based on mechanically treated carbon nanofiber (MCNF) electrodes. The electrode's highly graphitic content, unique microstructure, and the presence of nitrogen heteroatoms in its atomic lattice contribute to increased heterogeneous electron transfer and improved kinetics compared to conventional pyrolytic carbons. The electrode demonstrates selectivity for iodide ions in the presence of both interfering agents and high salt concentrations. The sensor exhibits clinically relevant limits of detection of 0.59 µM and 1.41 µM, in 1X PBS and synthetic urine, respectively, and a wide dynamic range between 5 µM and 700 µM. These results illustrate the advantages of the material's unique electrochemical properties for iodide sensing, in addition to its simple, inexpensive fabrication. The reported iodine sensor eliminates the need for specimen processing, revealing its aptitude for applications in point-of-care diagnostics.