A Review of the Use of Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene-Based Sensors for the Detection of Aflatoxin M1 Compounds in Milk

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the detection of aflatoxin compounds using carbon allotrope-based sensors. Although aflatoxin M1 and its derivative aflatoxin B1 compounds have been primarily found in milk and other food products, their presence above a threshold concentration causes disastrous health-related anomalies in human beings, such as growth impairment, underweight and even carcinogenic and immunosuppressive effects. Among the many sensors developed to detect the presence of these compounds, the employment of certain carbon allotropes, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene, has been highly preferred due to their enhanced electromechanical properties. These conductive nanomaterials have shown excellent quantitative performance in terms of sensitivity and selectivity for the chosen aflatoxin compounds. This paper elucidates some of the significant examples of the CNTs and graphene-based sensors measuring Aflatoxin M1 (ATM1) and Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) compounds at low concentrations. The fabrication technique and performance of each of the sensors are shown here, as well as some of the challenges existing with the current sensors.

Coupled Multiphysics Modelling of Sensors for Chemical, Biomedical, and Environmental Applications with Focus on Smart Materials and Low-Dimensional Nanostructures

“…Today, nanosensors play an important role in improving food and environment sectors including food processing, agriculture, air, and water quality monitoring, packaging, and transport. For example, CNT and graphene-based sensors have been designed to detect toxin compounds in food products and milk, where their presence above a threshold level can potentially lead to immunosuppressive effects and other health-related anomalies in humans [ 331 ]. While we already mentioned toxicity issues in this section earlier, they continue to be debated in the literature.…”

Wearable Sensors for Healthcare: Fabrication to Application

“…Nowadays, conductive polymers, such as poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS) [ 33 , 34 , 35 ] and polyaniline [ 36 , 37 , 38 ], are used to develop nanocomposite-based flexible sensors [ 39 , 40 , 41 ]. Similar to polymers, certain types of nanomaterials, such as carbon-based allotropes [ 42 , 43 , 44 ] and metallic nanomaterials [ 45 , 46 , 47 ], have been used as processed materials to form sensors. The carbon allotropes include Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) [ 48 , 49 , 50 ], graphene [ 51 , 52 , 53 ], and graphite [ 54 , 55 , 56 ], while some of the types of metallic nanomaterials are nanoparticles [ 57 , 58 ], nanoribbons [ 59 , 60 ], and nano-beads [ 61 , 62 ].…”

Integration of Different Graphene Nanostructures with PDMS to Form Wearable Sensors

“…These nanomaterials can be distinguished into two classes, including carbon-based allotropes [ 57 , 58 , 59 ] and metallic nanomaterials [ 60 , 61 , 62 ]. While materials such ascarbon nanotubes (CNTs) [ 63 , 64 , 65 ], graphene [ 66 , 67 , 68 ], and graphite [ 69 , 70 , 71 ] fall in the former category, the second class consists of different kinds of physiochemical structures such as nanoparticles [ 72 , 73 , 74 ], nanowires [ 75 , 76 , 77 ], nano-beads [ 78 , 79 , 80 ], nano-ribbons [ 81 , 82 , 83 ], and quantum dots [ 84 , 85 , 86 ]. Regarding the development of wearable sensors, carbon-based allotropes have been preferred over the other allotropes due to their high biocompatibility and excellent electromechanical characteristics.…”