Electrodes modified with bacteriophages and carbon nanofibres for cysteine detection

Here we exploit the high surface area and ability of wild bacteriophage particles to form self-assembled structures. Utilization of these particles for modifying electrodes with carbon nanofibres (CNF) leads to the generation of a novel hybrid material with highly developed surface and thus an electrode with an extended active area, which is desirable when preparing new sensing platforms. This report helps filling gaps in the current knowledge about bacteriophage-nano-material interactions. The wild bacteriophage-carbon nanofibre interactions were thoroughly characterized by microscopy techniques and zeta potential measurements. Our results show that the electroactive surface area is better developed when the bacteriophages are added to the CNF-based electrodes, compared to the case of only the bare electrode, or an electrode modified only with CNFs. The electrocatalytic response towards the oxidation of the thiol biomarker L-cysteine was evaluated with cyclic voltammetry. The results show that the response of the electrode is improved if bacteriophages are used for CNF-based electrode modification.