ABSTRACT
A new type of pH biosensor was developed for biological applications. This biosensor was fabricated using silicon microsystem technology and consists in two platinum microelectrodes. The first microelectrode was coated by an electrosynthesized polymer and acted as the pH sensitive electrode when the second one was coated by a silver layer and was used as the reference electrode. Then, this potentiometric pH miniaturized biosensor based on electrosynthesized polypyrrole or electrosynthesized linear polyethylenimine films was tested. The potentiometric responses appeared reversible and linear to pH changes in the range from pH 4 to 9. More, the responses were fast (less than 1 min for all sensors), they were stable in time since PPy/PEI films were stable during more than 30 days, and no interference was observed. The influence of the polymer thickness was also studied.
Subject(s)
Biosensing Techniques/instrumentation , Biosensing Techniques/methods , Electrons , Ethylenediamines/chemical synthesis , Polyethyleneimine/chemical synthesis , Electrochemistry , Ethylenediamines/chemistry , Hydrogen-Ion Concentration , Lactones , Microscopy, Atomic Force , Oxidation-Reduction , Polyethyleneimine/chemistry , Polymers/chemistry , Pyrroles/chemistry , Silver , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Potentiometric pH sensors based on linear polyethylenimine (L-PEI) and linear polypropylenimine(L-PPI), two synthetic enzymes and biocompatible polymers, films were prepared by electropolymerization of three different monomers: ethylenediamine (EDA), 1,3-diaminopropane (1,3-DAP) and diethylenetriamine (DETA) in order to be used in clinical, dermatological and biological applications, such as in vivo analysis. In a first step a biosensor was tested which consisted in a platinum wire protruded from glass sheath. The polymer film coated on these platinum electrodes showed good linear potentiometric responses to pH changes from pH 3 to 10. Resulting electrodes present both good reversibility and good stability versus time. The effect of the different polymer film thicknesses to potentiometric responses was also studied. This study allowed us to develop a miniaturized pH biosensor in the second step. This sensor was fabricated using photo-lithography, followed by sputtering and lift-off processes, and it included an electronic detection system. We have also successfully studied the potentiometric responses to pH changes of this device over a period of 1 month, and so we propose this new pH micro-biosensor as an alternative to classical pH sensors currently used in dermatology.
