Fabrication of CNT based electronic devices

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are materials that are close to ideal one-dimensional system, with diameters in the range 1-2 nm and length up to several millimeters making them excellent sensors for studying biological and chemical systems. For single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) every atom is on the surface and exposed to the environment thus even small changes in the charge environment can cause drastic change to their electrical properties. Field-effect transistors (FETs) using SWNTs as the conducting channel were used to conduct biomolecules sensing in an electrolyte solution. In this report, the biosensing capability of the CNT based devices in detecting ligand-receptor interactions was verified and the interaction between different charged biomolecules and the devices was investigated using biotinylated lipid, streptavidin and avidin as the analyte in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at pH 7.4. It was found that the devices had specific changes in their conductance when different analyte solutions were used. Some future works were identified to explore the use of CNT based electronic devices in other areas such as cancer treatment and selectivity enhancement. Recommendations to improve the experiment were also discussed.Bachelor of Engineering (Materials Engineering