Diamonds for Life: Developments in Sensors for Biomolecules

Abstract

Diamond-based electrodes and biosensors are interesting in analytics because of their particular set of properties, namely: large potential window, chemical inertness, low baseline current, stability, and transparency. Diamond-based electrodes and biosensors were shown to detect biological molecules such as neurotransmitters and proteins, respectively. In this review, we summarise the different types of diamond electrodes and biosensors based on their type of detection (electrochemical or optical), functionalisation, and target analyte. The last section presents a discussion on the different analytical responses obtained with electrodes or biosensors, according to the type of analyte. Electrodes work quite well for detecting small molecules with redox properties, whereas biosensors are more suited for detecting molecules with a high molecular weight, such as DNA and proteins.

The Gemstone Cyborg: How Diamond Films Are Creating New Platforms for Cell Regeneration and Biointerfacing

“…As previously described in Section 1 , diamond offers a particular set of characteristics which makes it an excellent tool for the biomedical use. Diamond has been used for other biomedical applications such as biosensors [ 4 , 7 , 42 , 43 ] and biointerfaces, also because of its mechanical strength and wear resistance.…”

“…This property can be further tailored by adding small amounts of non-carbon elements acting as electron donors or receptors, such as boron, nitrogen, and phosphorus. This process is called doping, with boron having a well-known vital role in creating p -type conductivity [ 4 ]. In tandem, the hydrophilicity and consequent biocompatibility of diamond can be improved by terminating the surfaces with ether (C–O–C), carbonyl (C=O) and hydroxyl (C–OH) groups [ 1 ].…”

The Annealing Kinetics of Defects in CVD Diamond Irradiated by Xe Ions

“…Optical and dielectric materials, both perfect and doped, play a key role in numerous high tech applications [1][2][3] and attract increasing attention for their modelling from the first principles [4,5]. In particular, diamond is a very attractive material, not only as a gemstone but also for fundamental science and innovative applications, such as quantum technologies, sensors, radiation detectors, nanoscale chemical and biomedical imaging, as well as applications in green and sustainable technologies [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Moreover, it is the material addressed in the major future research directions of the EU programme's Quantum Technologies Flagship [13] and Quantum Communication Infrastructure [14].…”