The Department of Chemistry, School of Arts and Sciences, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri campus, organized an invited talk on “Graphene-based Electrochemical Sensors” by Dr. Murali Rangarajan, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, on September 18, 2015.

Electrochemical sensors are devices that give information about the composition of a system in real time by coupling a chemically selective layer (the recognition element) to an electrochemical transducer. Graphene is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a single layer of atoms in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice in which one atom forms each vertex. It is the basic structural element of other allotropes, including graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. It can also be considered as an indefinitely large aromatic molecule, the ultimate case of the family of flat polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Graphene-Based Electrochemical Sensors have gained a lot of attention based on their unique properties of high mechanical flexibility, large surface area, chemical stability, superior electric and thermal conductivities that render them great choices as alternative electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage and sensor applications. Graphene-Based Electrochemical Sensors presents the latest nanomaterials that have gained a lot of attention based on their unique properties of high mechanical flexibility, large surface area, chemical stability, superior electric and thermal conductivities that render them great choices as alternative electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage and sensor applications. The hybridization of graphene with other nanomaterials induces a synergetic effect, leading to the improvement in electrical conductivity, stability and enhancement of the electrocatalytic activity of the new nanocomposite material. He covered the importance of detecting biomolecules and the application of graphene and its nanocomposite materials in the detection of a wide variety of bioanalytes.

He also presented fundamentals of electrochemical sensing systems and the role of graphene-based nanocomposite materials in research and development.