Hybrid nanocomposites based on carbon nanotube and PAMAM dendrimer: synthesis and metal complexation for use as a sensor in the voltammetric determination of thiols compounds

Abstract

The development of electrochemical sensors based on carbon nanotubes (NTCs) is one of the most active and promising fields of research within the various areas of nanotechnology, namely: clinical, environmental and industrial. The scientific challenge is to find chemically safe, clean and feasible routes to modify CNTs. In this project, we intend to functionalize carbon nanotubes with the Polypropyleneimine PAMAM G.1 dendrimer and, through chemical interactions, produce stable metal complexes on the surface of CNTs. The specific objectives of this project can be summarized in two stages. In a first step, it is desired to prepare and characterize by different techniques such as: Raman Spectroscopy, Infrared (FTIR), UV-Visible (UV-Vis), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy. (SEM-MET), the hybrid material produced, as well as its precursors. In a second step, after the formation of metallic nanocomposites based on Cu2+ and Zn2+ and subsequent reaction with potassium hexacyanoferrate (III), it is intended to carry out a systematic study on the electrochemical properties of these nanodispersed hybrid materials in graphite paste using voltammetric techniques . After making and optimizing an electroanalytical system, we intend to test these materials as electrochemical sensors for the detection and determination of thiols compounds ((L-Cysteine, N-Acetylcysteine, Homoscysteine, Glutathione). L-Cysteine, in the development of this analytical methodology, will serve as a model molecule for a variety of thiols compounds. In this way, these modified carbonaceous materials allied with extremely sensitive and selective electroanalytical methods will allow, in an easy, fast, reliable way, the quantification of different thiols compounds, in complex matrices., such as: biological fluids, industrial effluents, food and pharmaceutical formulations. (AU)