pH-dependent behaviors of electroactive myoglobin loaded into layer-by-layer films assembled with alginate and...

In the present work, strong polybase quaternized hydroxyethyl cellulose ethoxylate (HECE) and weak polyacid alginate (AA) were assembled into {HECE/AA} n layer-by-layer (LBL) films on electrodes by electrostatic interaction between them, and the films were then immersed in myoglobin (Mb) solution to load Mb into the films, designated as {HECE/AA}n-Mb. The {HECE/AA}n-Mb films showed a nearly reversible cyclic voltammetric (CV) peak pair at about -0.34 V vs SCE in pH 7.0 buffers for Mb heme Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couple, and the surface concentration of electroactive Mb in the films (Gamma*) was affected significantly by the pH of Mb loading solution and testing solution. The amount of Mb loaded from pH 5.0 solution was much larger than that from pH 9.0 solution, which is mainly attributed to the higher degree of swelling, porosity, and permeability of {HECE/AA}n films at pH 5.0 than at pH 9.0. In addition, the electrostatic interaction between Mb and the AA component in the films might also play an important role in Mb loading. The pH of the testing solution where {HECE/AA}n-Mb films were tested by CV also influenced the Gamma* value, showing that the fraction of electroactive Mb among the total Mb loaded into the films increased remarkably as the pH of the testing solution decreased. This result is rationalized in terms of the pH-dependent film permeability toward counterions and the electron-hopping mechanism in electron transfer of redox proteins in the film phase. This model system may provide a general and effective approach to control the electroactivity of immobilized redox proteins in the multilayer assembly containing weak polyions by adjusting pH and may guide us to develop the new kind of controllable electrochemical biosensors based on the direct electrochemistry of enzymes.