Electrochemical Impedance Analysis of Biofunctionalized Conducting Polymer-Modified Graphene-CNTs Nanocomposite for Protein Detection

We report an electrodeposited poly(pyrrole-co-pyrrolepropylic acid) copolymer modified electroactive graphene-carbon nanotubes composite deposited on a glassy carbon electrode to detect the protein antigen (cTnI). The copolymer provides pendant carboxyl groups for the site-specific covalent immobilization of protein antibody, anti-troponin I. The hybrid nanocomposite was used as a transducer for biointerfacial impedance sensing for cTnI detection. The results show that the hybrid exhibits a pseudo capacitive behaviour with a maximum phase angle of 49° near 1 Hz, which is due to the inhomogeneous and porous structure of the hybrid composition. The constant phase element of copolymer is 0.61 (n = 0.61), whereas, it is 0.88 (n = 0.88) for the hybrid composites, indicating a comparatively homogeneous microstructure after biomolecular functionalization. The transducer shows a linear change in charge transfer characteristic (R (et)) on cTnI immunoreaction for spiked human serum in the concentration range of 1.0 pg mL(−1)–10.0 ng mL(−1). The sensitivity of the transducer is 167.8 ± 14.2 Ω cm(2) per decade, and it also exhibits high specificity and good reproducibility. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40820-016-0108-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.