Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for the Development of Sensitive Nanosensor Platforms

Over the past few decades, enormous development has been reported in nanosensor technology mainly because of our ever-increasing understanding of nanoscale phenomenon and growth of innovative nanofabrication techniques. Among the different nanomaterials, carbon-based nanomaterials (such as buckminsterfullerene, nanodiamonds, carbon nanotubes/nanofibers, carbon nanodots, graphene) have gained considerable research interest owing to their novel chemical and physical properties. Many of the extraordinary properties of carbon nanomaterials make them ideal transducers in the fabrication of nanosensors for environmental monitoring, healthcare, food safety control, and so forth for the detection of different analytes, e.g., heavy metal ions, food additives, gas molecules, antibodies, and toxic pesticides. This chapter discusses the application of carbon nanomaterials in the development of nanosensors for different analytes. In particular, we describe the significant potential of carbon nanomaterials as highly sensitive platforms and also articulate the research challenges and perspectives confronting this emerging field.