| Abstract Scope |
High surface area nanocarbon electrodes for batteries, supercapacitors, and biosensors have consistently been shown to have superior performance when compared to metal electrodes. Nevertheless, major challenges hinder our ability to scalably produce nanocarbon-based electrodes with tailored morphology and surface chemistry, especially on flexible substrates. This talk focuses on a unique bottom-up approach for directly growing different types of nanocarbons on polymer films by laser irradiation. First, the talk will cover how this direct-write process, often referred to as laser-induced graphene (LIG), can be controlled to produces spatially-varying morphologies and chemical compositions, by leveraging gradients of laser fluence. Secondly, a method will be introduced to control the heteroatom doping of LIG electrodes based on controlling the atomic structure of the polymer being lased. Finally, a demonstration of these functional LIG electrodes as electrochemical biosensors will be presented for the detection of the neurotransmitter dopamine with nanomolar sensitivity. |