Elimination of electrooxidizable interferant-produced currents in amperometric biosensors

Electrooxidizable ascorbate, urate, and acetaminophen that interfere with amperometric glucose assays are completely and rapidly oxidized by hydrogen peroxide in a multilayer electrode. The multilayer electrode is composed of an immobilized, but not electrically "wired", horseradish peroxidase (HRP) film coated onto a film of electrically "wired" glucose oxidase (GO). The "wired" enzyme is connected by a redox epoxy network to a vitreous carbon electrode. The current from the electrooxidizable interferants is decreased by their peroxidase-catalyzed preoxidation by a factor of 2500, and the glucose/interferant current ratio is increased 10(3)-fold. Undesired electroreduction of hydrogen peroxide can result when HRP is also "wired" to the electrode. Such unwanted "wiring" is prevented by incorporating an electrically insulating barrier layer between the wired GO film and the HRP film. The hydrogen peroxide necessary for elimination of interferants can be added externally, or when this is not possible, it can be generated in situ by means of a coupled enzyme reaction.