Cast thin film biosensor design based on a Nafion backbone, a multiwalled carbon nanotube conduit, and a glucose...

Novel electroanalytical sensing nanobiocomposite materials are reported. These materials are prepared by mixing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), a Nafion cation exchanger, and glucose oxidase (GOD) in appropriate amounts. The MWNTs are cylindrical with a diameter in the range 40-60 nm and with a length of up to several micrometers, and they provide electrical conductivity. Nafion acts as a polymer backbone to give stable and homogeneous cast thin films. Both MWNTs and Nafion provide negative functionalities to bind to positively charged redox enzymes such as glucose oxidase. The resulting biosensing composite material is inexpensive, reliable, and easy to use. The homogeneity of the MWNT-Nafion-GOD nanobiocomposite films was characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Amperometric transducers fabricated with these materials were characterized electrochemically using cyclic voltammetry and amperometry in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and in the presence of glucose. Their linear response to hydrogen peroxide was demonstrated. The glucose biosensor sensitivity was strongly influenced by the glucose oxidase concentration within the nanobiocomposite film. The optimized glucose biosensor (2.5 mg/mL GOD) displayed a sensitivity of 330 nA/mM, a linear range of up to 2 mM, a detection limit of 4 microM, and a response time of <3 s.