Poly(brilliant cresyl blue)-carbonnanotube modified electrodes for determination of NADH and fabrication of ethanol dehydrogenase-based biosensor.

A single walled-carbon nanotube (SWNT) modified with poly brilliant cresyl blue (PBCB) glassy carbon electrode has been fabricated by a simple, method in order to facilitate electrocatalytic detection of NADH. At this chemically modified electrode, NADH was determined in neutral phosphate buffer solution at 0V (vs. SCE). The amperometric detection provided a wide linear current vs. concentration range (3.0-104.2 microM), a fast response time (within 5s), high sensitivity [9.89nA (muM)(-1)] and a low detection limit (1.0 microM, S/N=3). No interference was observed with a 100-fold excess of dopamine or uric acid. An ethanol biosensor also was developed using the nanocomposite modified electrode, by immobilizing ethanol dehydrogenase with carrageenan. In this case a linear ethanol concentration response was achieved in the range from 0.4 to 2.4mM and the detection limit was estimated to be 0.1mM (S/N=3). The analytical performance achieved with the of the PBCB/SWNT nanocomposite electrode is expected to the development of novel biosensors, biofuel cells, and other bioelectrochemical devices.

[Studies on the mechanism of the interaction between hydrazide-podophyllic Ni(II), Co(II), Zn(II) metal complexes and DNA].

The mechanism of the interaction between hydrazide-podophyllic (HDPP) metal (Me) complexes and calf thymus (ct) DNA in Tris buffer (pH 7.08) was studied by viscosity measurements, electronic absorption, gel electrophoresis, and ethidium bromide (EB) fluorescence spectroscopy. The results from varied experiments show that the intensity of the maximal absorption peaks from absorption spectra is weakened in the presence of DNA compared with that in the absence of DNA. Meanwhile, DNA can remarkably quench the emission intensity of the complex Me-HDPP system. The Me-HDPP complexes can increase the viscosity of ct DNA slightly and catalyze the cleavage of super coiled pBR322 DNA to the nicked form. The complexes of Ni-HDPP and Co-HDPP can be bound to ct DNA mainly by interaction, while the partial interaction of Zn-HDPP and ct DNA is the major modes. The binding constant of Me-HDPP complexes with ct DNA was determined.

Direct electrochemistry and electrochemical catalysis of immobilized hemoglobin in an ethanol-water mixture.

Hemoglobin (Hb) was immobilized on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface by konjac glucomannan (KGM). KGM hydrogel films on GCE have relatively high stabilities in aqueous-ethanol mixtures. The entrapped hemoglobin undergoes fast direct electron transfer reactions in aqueous-organic solvent mixtures. The peak current is bigger, the peak-to-peak separation smaller and the formal potential observed in the cyclic voltammogram is more negative for Hb-KGM/GCE in ethanol-PBS compared to Hb-KGM/GCE in PBS. The electrochemical properties of the Hb in aqueous-organic solution are almost unchanged from with those observed for the purely aqueous solution, suggesting that water pools in the KGM hydrogel play an important role in preventing changes in conformation and making proteins unreactive with polar organic solvents. The immobilized Hb was able to catalyze the reduction of nitric oxide, peroxides (hydrogen peroxide, cumene hydroperoxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide, 2-butanone peroxide), and the dehalogenation of haloethanes (hexachloroethane, pentachloroethane, tetrachloroethane, etc.). The stability and reproducibility of the modified electrode meant that it could be used to determine these substances.

Electrochemical investigation of immobilized hemoglobin: redox chemistry and enzymatic catalysis.

Hb entrapped in the Konjak glucomannan (KGM) film could transfer electrons directly to an edge-plane pyrolytic graphite (EPG) electrode, corresponding to the redox couple of Fe(III)/Fe(II). The redox properties of Hb, such as formal potential, electron transfer rate constant, the stability of the redox state of protein and redox Bohr effect, were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry. The stable Hb-KGM/EPG gave analytically useful electrochemical catalytic responses to oxygen, hydrogen peroxide and nitrite.

Direct electrochemistry and electrocatalysis of heme-proteins entrapped in agarose hydrogel films.

Three heme-proteins, including myoglobin (Mb), hemoglobin (Hb) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP), were immobilized on edge-plane pyrolytic graphite (EPG) electrodes by agarose hydrogel. The proteins entrapped in the agarose film undergo fast direct electron transfer reactions, corresponding to FeIII = e- --> FeII. The formal potential (E degrees'), the apparent coverage (Gamma), the electron transfer coefficient (alpha) and the apparent electron transfer rate constant (ks) were calculated by integrating cyclic voltammograms or performing nonlinear regression analysis of square wave voltammetric (SWV) experimental data. The E degrees's are linearly dependent on solution pH (redox Bohr effect), indicating that the electron transfer was proton-coupled. Ultraviolet visible (UV-Vis) and reflection-absorption infrared (RAIR) spectra suggest that the conformation of proteins in the agarose film are little different from that proteins alone, and the conformation changes reversibly in the range of pH 3.0-10.0. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the agarose film indicate a stable and crystal-like structure formed possibly due to the synergistic interaction of hydrogen bonding between N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), agarose hydrogel and heme-proteins. This suggests a strong interaction between the heme-proteins and the agarose hydrogel. DMF plays an important role in immobilizing proteins and enhancing electron transfer between proteins and electrodes. The mechanisms for catalytic reduction of hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide (NO) by proteins entrapped in agarose hydrogel were also explored.

Electrochemical properties of Nile Blue covalently immobilized on self-assembled thiol-monolayer modified gold electrodes.

A monolayer of Nile Blue (NB) has been covalently immobilized on the self-assembled thiol-monolayer modified gold electrode. Cyclic voltammograms indicated a stable and reverse redox process of NB bonded on the electrode surface. The mechanisms of redox process coupling with proton transfer were proposed. The NB-modified electrode showed excellent electrocatalytic activity toward Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) oxidation and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) reduction. A hydrogen peroxide biosensor based on NB as a mediator has been demonstrated.