Materials for Developing Electrochemical Biosensing Systems

Abstract

A biosensor is an integrated receiver-transducer device that can convert a biological response into a detectable and measurable signal. The design and development of biosensors have taken center stage among researchers and scientists in the last decade due to the wide range of applications they present, such as disease diagnosis, environmental monitoring, food quality control, and general wellness. One of the main challenges posed by the progress of biosensors is the efficient capture of biorecognition signals and the transformation of these signals into electrochemical, electrical, optical, gravimetric, or acoustic signals, and the improvement of their properties, such as increased sensitivity, reduced response time, reproducibility, and low detection limits. These challenges can be overcome by using specific materials such as nanomaterials, which range from zero to three dimensions and possess a high surface-to-volume ratio, good conductivity, ability to withstand impact, and chromatic tunability. Nanomaterials (NMs) used in the fabrication of nanobiosensors include nanoparticles (NPs), nanowires (NWs), nanorods (NRs), triangular nanoprisms (NTs), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and quantum dots (QDs), among others. In addition, these nanomaterials can act as transduction elements. This chapter summarizes the evolution of electrochemical biosensors, the types of biosensors based on their receptors, transducers, and modern approaches employed in biosensors using these types of materials and their recent advancement in biosensor technology with the expansion of nanotechnology.