The role of reaction kinetics and mass transport in biosensing using electrodes integrated with nanopillars of different heights was investigated. In an electrochemical based detection, the increased active surface area due to the addition of nanopillars may lead to enhanced sensing performances only when the reaction rate constant of the target species is low. At a higher reaction rate constant, only the top part of the nanopillar modified electrodes will serve the purpose for transferring electrons. To reap the benefit of using nanostructured electrodes for improving the sensing performances, it is necessary to optimize the geometry of the nanopillars to accommodate the specific analyte species in terms of its reaction kinetics and mass transport.
Competing interests
The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
VA, XY, EK and YLR contributed to the design of the study, the acquisition and analysis of data, and the writing of the manuscript. GZ contributed to the design and coordination of the study and participated in the writing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Acknowledgements
This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (ECS-0304340), the Faculty of Engineering and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Science at the University of Georgia.
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