Graphene is essentially a monolayer of sp2 bonded carbon atoms, arranged in a honeycomb lattice. Graphene has in recent years attracted phenomenal interest from researchers in materials science, condensed matter physics, and electronics since its first demonstration in 2004. The importance of graphene research was epitomised by the Nobel prize for physics being awarded to pioneers of the field in 2010. The main topic of this research was the development of epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide (SiC) substrates. The substrate inferred processability of epitaxial graphene enables graphene devices to be fabricated on full wafers using standard semiconductor processing techniques. Biosensor research is a rapidly expanding field. The major driver comes from the healthcare industry but there are also applications for biosensors in the food quality appraisal and environmental monitoring industries. The key advantages of electrochemical biosensors over competing sensor technologies are the low cost of mass production, and ability to make sensors into small compact systems. Smaller, portable sensors allow for the development of point-ofcare medical devices, which can be crucial in fast diagnosis and long-term monitoring of diseases. Graphene channel resistor devices have been fabricated using electron beam lithography and a successfully developed contact metallisation scheme - using Titanium / Gold contacts. The metal-graphene contacts have been characterised using XPS and electrical current-voltage measurements. The graphene channel device has been used as the basis of an electrochemical sensor for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), an indicator of pregnancy - which has also been linked to increased risk of several cancers. The immunosensor developed is a promising tool for point-of-care detection of hCG, due to its excellent detection capability, simplicity of fabrication, low-cost, high sensitivity and selectivity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:678600 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Teixeira, Sofia |
| Publisher | Swansea University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa43086 |
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