Towards development of laser scribed graphene transducers for electrochemical biosensors

Development of suitable electrochemical transducers (e.g. electrodes) is a major concern to obtain efficient sensing and biosensing platforms. Graphene has attracted attention as a potential material for electrochemical transduction, but its massive production remains as a challenge. In this work, the development and characterization of graphene electrodes based on thermal reduction by laser action is presented. The method, known as laser scribed graphene, was applied to graphite oxide (GO) obtained by Hummer's method. Then, after several burning cycles, GO was thermally reduced by the action of CD/DVD unit laser. Formation of graphene layers was corroborated by Raman, UV-Vis, XRD and SEM techniques. The electrochemical performance of the material was characterized by EIS and Cyclic voltammetry. Finally, the potential application of developed material as biosensing platform was investigated with glucose oxidase as model enzyme and FTIR. Specter showed distinctive bands, which suggest that enzyme retained its native conformation and activity. The developed material showed enhanced electrochemical properties after laser reduction and is suitable for potential application as biosensing platform.