Preparation of conducting ink of carbon nanomaterials without surface passivating to the disposable and flexible electrodes fabrication

• Grant number: 22/11401-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Program to Stimulate Scientific Vocations
• Start date: January 16, 2023
• End date: March 07, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Lauro Tatsuo Kubota
• Grantee: Felipe Barbosa Marques
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The project aims to propose new routes for preparing conductive inks from carbon nanomaterials. One of these new procedures aims to obtain fullerene paints. These inks are fullerene derivatives containing oxygenated functional groups on the surface. The innovation of this method of preparation was to obtain concentrated and stable inks from carbon materials that are poorly functionalized and which can be used immediately after deposition and drying without other additional treatments. The student linked to this project will (i) prepare these fullerene inks, (ii) characterize these inks, (iii) deposit these materials on paper substrates, (iv) use these electrodes on paper for the electrochemical sensing of molecules of interest. Briefly, C60 fullerene is added to a mixture of potassium hydroxide and N,N'-dimethylformamide under stirring. This process will be carried out in an ambient or nitrogen atmosphere, with or without adding small volumes of water. Such variations result in inks containing fullerenes with varying properties depending on the initial conditions, but all these inks contain materials with few functional groups on the surface, which allows for the use of electrodes soon after the inks are deposited. These inks can then be blended with commercial carbon paste and printed on paper. The resulting paper electrodes will be used as working electrodes in wearable electrochemical systems, and electrochemical sensing of target molecules and molecules of interest will be carried out. (AU)