Modification, Functionalization, and Characterization of Carbon-Fiber Electrodes by Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy

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This project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, focusses on the application of scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) and optical imaging to characterizing the heterogeneity of carbon fiber surfaces and the SECM-controlled modification of these surfaces to produce regions which have been functionalized. These microfabricated surfaces will then be used to make unusual redox enzyme-based sensors which will be broadly evaluated. Professor David Wipf and his students at Mississippi State University, working in collaboration with Professor Werner Kuhr and his students at the University of California at Riverside, will pursue these goals during the tenure of this thirty-four month continuing grant. Chemical modification of the surface of electrodes can enable unique applications of these devices as molecularly selective sensors of target analytes. Carbon electrodes, particularly carbon fiber microelectrodes, offer a rich synthetic platform on which to build a wide variety of molecularly specific electrochemical sensors. This research is aimed at understanding the heterogeneity of surfaces of carbon fibers to be used in these applications and the development of protocols for the spatially resolved attachment of redox enzymes to these surfaces. This research should lead to the development of new analytical probes of broad biotechnological importance.