Spongy graphene electrode in electrochemical detection of leukemia at single-cell levels

Mg2+-charged spongy graphene electrodes (SGEs) were fabricated by using electrophoretic deposition of chemically exfoliated graphene oxide sheets on graphite rods. The SGEs were able to present two distinguishable signals (originated from electrochemical oxidation of guanine) in differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) of leukemia and normal blood cells, in contrast to glassy carbon electrodes giving only one overlapped peak. Hence, the SGEs were applied in fast (60 min) and ultra sensitive detection of leukemia (single abnormal cells in ∼109 normal cells) in a blood serum. The sensitivity obtained by the SGEs was three orders of magnitude better than that of the best available and current technologies (e.g., specific mutations by polymerase chain reaction with detection limit of one abnormal cell in ∼106 normal cells) which not only are expensive, but also require several days for incubation. Significant variations in DPV signals of the SGEs after the first electrochemical cycle indicated that the best performance of the SGEs can be achieved only at the first cycle. The linear dynamic detection behavior of the SGEs was investigated in wide concentration range of 1.0 × 105–0.1 cell/mL. The lower detection limit was estimated ∼0.02 cell/mL, based on the current resolution obtained by the SGEs.