Novel nanoscale platforms for the isolation and ultra-trace detection of bioactive molecules

This thesis demonstrates novel nanoscale analytical platforms for the selective and sensitive detection of biomolecules for pharmaceutical, environmental and biomedical applications. The new platforms comprised functionalized nanomaterials, disposable sensors and portable detectors for the combined Raman and electrochemical determination of biomolecules. The new nanosensing methodology utilizes the thiol chemistry of biomolecules for their label-free detection by SERS and DPV. Therefore, it can be applied to numerous biomolecules that have disulfide bonds structure. In terms of sensitivity, sample processing, analysis time and cost, the new methodology has significant advantages over the other current techniques such as chromatography and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay