Functionalized Carbon Nanostructures for Electroanalysis

The improvement of living standards following economic and technological development has necessitated the development of analytical systems capable of controlling the quality of food, medicine, environment, and everything that affects human health. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to make small, robust, flexible, portable, implantable, and at the same time sensitive, selective, and real-time and fast responsive sensors. Between analytical methods, electrochemical systems are beneficial regarding their cheap and nondestructive features that can provide the mentioned features together. Meanwhile, the sensitivity and selectivity of the electrochemical sensors are depended on the working electrode performance. Commonly, the redox reaction of analytes at the surface of bare electrodes is sluggish and insensitive. The electrode surface passivation is another issue. To overcome these restrictions, modified electrodes have been developed. Functionalized carbon nanostructures (FCNSs) are a wide group of carbon-based materials. Carbon-based materials have multiple benefits containing plentiful sources, adjustable molecular structures, great electronic conductivity, and environmental amenability. This chapter is intended to describe the outstanding features of FCNSs as high-performance electrocatalysts for the development of sensitive and selective electrochemical sensors.