PREPARATION CHARACTERIZATION AND TAILORING OF NANOSTRUCTURED FILMS OF METALS AND METAL OXIDES FOR APPLICATION TO BIOSENSOR

Abstract

Biomolecular electronics, an interdisciplinary field that exploits the signal detection and newlineprocessing capabilities of biological materials, has emerged as a promising technology in newlinethe past decade and has opened a new era in healthcare. The regular assessment of newlineclinically relevant analytes, disease onset and progression, and continuous monitoring of newlinetreatments outcome is essential to maintain health standards. However, even simple newlineroutine biochemical tests require well-trained technicians, expensive laboratory newlineinfrastructure with continuous supply of chemicals resulting in high costs. Also, the newlinemedical practitioners and the patients must often wait for hours before the result of such newlinean analysis is known, which delays the implementation of any needed corrective therapy. newlineSuch diagnostic challenges have necessitated the development of new technologies nearer newlineto the patient sites. In this context, biosensors have emerged as compact, portable, handheld, newlinefaster and cost-effective devices. The biosensors offer several advantages over newlineconventional detection techniques i.e. they are simple, sensitive, accurate and newlinereproducible, require little sample preparation, deliver the assay rapidly, can be easily newlineminiaturized and are inexpensive to produce and to use. newlineIn this thesis, attempts have been made to develop high performance newlineelectrochemical biosensor for the detection of free and total cholesterol. The disordered newlinecholesterol level in the human body has association with various cardiovascular diseases newlinelike hypertension, cerebral thrombosis, atheroscelerosis, heart attack etc. Thus, regular newlinemonitoring of cholesterol levels can help reduce the risk of heart-related diseases. In newlineorder to fabricate cholesterol biosensor, firstly, iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) are newlineprepared and their in-situ oxidation during electrophoretic deposition onto the indium tinoxide (ITO) substrates is circumvented via encapsulation with organic carbon shell and newlineinorganic silica shell.