Pseudo-equilibrium approach to the design and use of enzyme-based amperometric biosensors evaluated using a sensor for hydrogen peroxide

Immobilization of Camel Liver Catalase on Nanosilver-Coated Cotton Fabric

Nanoparticles have the advantage of a superior surface area to volume ratio, and thus such materials are useful for enzyme immobilization. A silver nanoparticle coated cotton fabric (AgNp-CF) is used to immobilize camel liver catalase in the present work. The effect of loading levels of AgNp inside cotton fabrics on the immobilization of catalase was investigated. The results revealed that a 6 mL loading level of AgNp precursor (silver nitrate, 2 mM) at pH 8 showed the maximum immobilization efficiency (76%). The morphological properties of the cotton fabric (CF), AgNp-CF and AgNp-CF-catalase were characterized by SEM. The reusability of the immobilized enzyme was tested over ten reuses to show a 67% retained function of its initial activity. Compared with the soluble enzyme’s working pH (6.5), a rather broader working pH (6.5–7.0) was observed for the immobilized catalase. Additionally, the optimum working temperature increased from 30 for the soluble enzyme to 40 °C for the immobilized one, indicating thermal stability. The free and immobilized catalase enzyme’s Km values were 22.5 and 25 mM H2O2, respectively, reflecting the enzyme’s effective properties. The inhibitory effect of metal ions on the enzyme activity was higher toward soluble catalase than the immobilized catalase. This work has developed a method for immobilizing catalase to be useful for several applications.

Single bead-based electrochemical biosensor

A simple, robust, single bead-based electrochemical biosensor was fabricated and characterized. The sensor's working electrode consists of an electrochemically etched platinum wire, with a nominal diameter of 25 microm, hermetically heat-fusion sealed in a pulled glass capillary (micropipette). The sealing process does not require any epoxy or glue. A commercially available, densely functionalized agarose bead was mounted on the tip of the etched platinum wire. The use of a pre-functionalized bead eliminates the tedious and complicated surface functionalization process that is often the bottleneck in the development of electrochemical biosensors. We report on the use of a biotin agarose bead-based, micropipette, electrochemical (Bio-BMP) biosensor to monitor H(2)O(2) concentration and the use of a streptavidin bead-based, micropipette, electrochemical (SA-BMP) biosensor to detect DNA amplicons. The Bio-BMP biosensor's response increased linearly as the H(2)O(2) concentration increased in the range from 1 x 10(-6) to 1.2 x10(-4)M with a detection limit of 5 x 10(-7)M. The SA-BMP was able to detect the amplicons of 1pg DNA template of B. Cereus bacteria, thus providing better detection sensitivity than conventional gel-based electropherograms.

Amperometric hydrogen peroxide biosensor with sol-gel/chitosan network-like film as immobilization matrix

A new type of sol-gel/organic hybrid composite material based on the cross-linking of natural polymer chitosan with (3-aoryloxypropyl) dimethoxymethylsilane was developed for the fabrication of an amperometric H(2)O(2) biosensor. The composite film was used to immobilize horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on a gold disk electrode. The properties of sol-gel/chitosan and sol-gel/chitosan-HRP films have been carefully characterized by atomic force microscopy and Fourier transform infrared. By using fluorescent label, a protein density on sol-gel/chitosan has been calculated to be 3.14 x 10(12) moleculescm(-2). With the aid of catechol mediator, the biosensor had a fast response of less than 2 s with linear range of 5.0 x 10(-9)-1.0 x 10(-7) mol l(-1) and a detection limit of 2 x 10(-9) mol l(-1). Its current response shows a typical Michaelis-Menten mechanism. The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant K(M)(app) is found to be 1.30 micromol l(-1). The activation energy for enzymatic reaction is calculated to be 8.22 kJ mol(-1). The biosensor retained approximately 75% of its original activity after about 60 days of storage in a phosphate buffer at 4 degrees C.