Plasma-Enabled Carbon Nanostructures for an Early Diagnosis of
Alzheimer’s Disease
Shafique Pineda1, 2, Zhao Jun Han1, and Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov1, 2, 3.
1Plasma Nanoscience Centre Australia (PNCA), CSIRO Materials Science and
Engineering, P.O. Box 218, Lindfield, NSW 2070, Australia.
2Plasma Nanoscience @ Complex Systems, School of Physics, The University of
Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
3School of Chemistry, Physics, and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University
of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
e: Shafique.Pineda@csiro.au
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) presents a growing concern with detrimental public health
and socio-economic consequences [1]. Indeed, the progression of AD may be most
effectively managed provided the disease is accurately diagnosed as early as
possible. Consequently, this presents a technological challenge in the fabrication of
biorecognition platforms towards a highly selective and sensitive quantification of AD
biomarkers in complex biological fluids, such as in blood [2] and the cerebral spinal
fluid [3]. Notably, carbon nanostructures (CNs) are amongst the most promising
biorecognition nanomaterials due to their unprecedented optical, electrical and
structural properties. Moreover, these CNs may be most effectively processed by
plasma-treatment techniques [4,5], to enable, enhance, and tailor their performance
and optimize their fabrication, towards the construction of biosensors with
unparalleled performance for the early diagnosis of AD, via a plethora of energyefficient, environmentally-benign, and inexpensive approaches.
S. Pineda acknowledges the Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship and the
CSIRO’s OCE postgraduate top-up scholarship. Z. J. Han and K. Ostrikov
acknowledge the DECRA and Future fellowships, respectively, from the Australian
Research Council (ARC). This work is partially supported by the ARC and CSIRO’s
OCE Science Leadership Program.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Abbott, A., Dementia: A problem for our age. Nature 2011, 475, S2-S4.
Mapstone, M.; Cheema, A.K.; Fiandaca, M.S.; Zhong, X.; Mhyre, T.R.; Macarthur, L.H.; Hall,
W.J.; Fisher, S.G.; Peterson, D.R.; Haley, J.M., et al., Plasma phospholipids identify antecedent
memory impairment in older adults. Nature medicine 2014, advance online publication.
Querfurth, H.W.; LaFerla, F.M., Alzheimer's disease. New Engl J Med 2010, 362, 329-344.
Ostrikov, K.; Neyts, E.C.; Meyyappan, M., Plasma nanoscience: From nano-solids in plasmas
to nano-plasmas in solids. Adv Phys 2013, 62, 113-224.
Pineda, S.; Han, Z.J.; Ostrikov, K., Plasma-enabled carbon nanostructures for early diagnosis
of neurodegenerative diseases. Materials 2014, 7, 4896-4929.