Nanodiamonds on tetrahedral amorphous carbon significantly enhance dopamine detection and cell viability

We hypothesize that by using integrated carbon nanostructures on tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C), it is possible to take the performance and characteristics of these bioelectrodes to a completely new level. The integrated carbon electrodes were realized by combining nanodiamonds (NDs) with ta-C thin films coated on Ti-coated Si-substrates. NDs were functionalized with mixture of carboxyl and amine groups NDandante or amine NDamine, carboxyl NDvox or hydroxyl groups NDH and drop-casted or spray-coated onto substrate. By utilizing these novel structures we show that (i) the detection limit for dopamine can be improved by two orders of magnitude [from 10 µM to 50 nM] in comparison to ta-C thin film electrodes and (ii) the coating method significantly affects electrochemical properties of NDs and (iii) the ND coatings selectively promote cell viability. NDandante and NDH showed most promising electrochemical properties. The viability of human mesenchymal stem cells and osteoblastic SaOS-2 cells was increased on all ND surfaces, whereas the viability of mouse neural stem cells and rat neuroblastic cells was improved on NDandante and NDH and reduced on NDamine and NDvox. The viability of C6 cells remained unchanged, indicating that these surfaces will not cause excess gliosis. In summary, we demonstrated here that by using functionalized NDs on ta-C thin films we can significantly improve sensitivity towards dopamine as well as selectively promote cell viability. Thus, these novel carbon nanostructures provide an interesting concept for development of various in vivo targeted sensor solutions.