Recent trends in carbon nanotube (CNT)-based biosensors for the fast and sensitive detection of human viruses: a critical review

Abstract

The current COVID-19 pandemic, with its numerous variants including Omicron which is 50-70% more transmissible than the previously dominant Delta variant, demands a fast, robust, cheap, and easily deployed identification strategy to reduce the chain of transmission, for which biosensors have been shown as a feasible solution at the laboratory scale. The use of nanomaterials has significantly enhanced the performance of biosensors, and the addition of CNTs has increased detection capabilities to an unrivaled level. Among the various CNT-based detection systems, CNT-based field-effect transistors possess ultra-sensitivity and low-noise detection capacity, allowing for immediate analyte determination even in the presence of limited analyte concentrations, which would be typical of early infection stages. Recently, CNT field-effect transistor-type biosensors have been successfully used in the fast diagnosis of COVID-19, which has increased research and commercial interest in exploiting current developments of CNT field-effect transistors. Recent progress in the design and deployment of CNT-based biosensors for viral monitoring are covered in this paper, as are the remaining obstacles and prospects. This work also highlights the enormous potential for synergistic effects of CNTs used in combination with other nanomaterials for viral detection.

Fig. 1. The assembly of a sandwich-type carbon nanotube (CNT) immunosensor and its detection method is depicted schematically. The antibodies are attached onto CNTs through a poly(allylamine) layer. This figure has been adapted/reproduced from ref. with permission from MDPI, copyright 2021.

Fig. 2. (a) Detection workflow for SARS-CoV-2 using an electrochemical biosensor based on multiplex isothermal rolling circle amplification (RCA) for the fast identification of SARS-CoV-2 N and S genes in clinical samples. Sandwich hybridization of RCA amplicons with probes functionalized with redox-active labels is used in the test, which is then detected using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). (b) The electrochemical detection setup applied for the study. This figure has been adapted/reproduced from ref. with permission from Nature, copyright 2021.

Fig. 3. Diagnostic strategies for the detection of viruses are exemplified via the coronavirus disease. This figure has been adapted/reproduced from ref. with permission from MDPI, copyright 2021.

Fig. 4. Illustration of the design elements of biosensors used to detect target test samples, with an emphasis on the electrochemical bio-sensing platforms, which translate biochemical data into current or voltage signals on the surface of an electrochemical biosensor. This figure has been adapted/reproduced from ref. with permission from Elsevier, copyright 2021.

Fig. 5. Nanomaterials functionalized with nucleic acids or antibodies represent the main strategies of nano-based detection. This figure has been adapted/reproduced from ref. with permission from Nature, copyright 2020.

Fig. 6. Schematic illustration of the analytical principle of electrochemical biosensors. This figure has been adapted/reproduced from ref. with permission from Springer, copyright 2020.

Hicham Meskher

Hussain Chaudhery Mustansar

Amrit Kumar Thakur

Ravishankar Sathyamurthy

Iseult Lynch

Punit Singh

Tan Kim Han

Rahman Saidur