Integration of Enzymes in Polyaniline-Sensitized 3D Inverse Opal TiO₂ Architectures for Light-Driven Biocatalysis and...

Inspired by natural photosynthesis, coupling of artificial light-sensitive entities with biocatalysts in a biohybrid format can result in advanced photobioelectronic systems. Herein, we report on the integration of sulfonated polyanilines (PMSA1) and PQQ-dependent glucose dehydrogenase (PQQ-GDH) into inverse opal TiO₂ (IO-TiO₂) electrodes. While PMSA1 introduces sensitivity for visible light into the biohybrid architecture and ensures the efficient wiring between the IO-TiO₂ electrode and the biocatalytic entity, PQQ-GDH provides the catalytic activity for the glucose oxidation and therefore feeds the light-driven reaction with electrons for an enhanced light-to-current conversion. Here, the IO-TiO₂ electrodes with pores of around 650 nm provide a suitable interface and morphology needed for the stable and functional assembly of polymer and enzyme. The IO-TiO₂ electrodes have been prepared by a template approach applying spin coating, allowing an easy scalability of the electrode height and surface area. The successful integration of the polymer and the enzyme is confirmed by the generation of an anodic photocurrent, showing an enhanced magnitude with increasing glucose concentrations. Compared to flat and nanostructured TiO₂ electrodes, the three-layered IO-TiO₂ electrodes give access to a 24-fold and 29-fold higher glucose-dependent photocurrent due to the higher polymer and enzyme loading in IO films. The three-dimensional IO-TiO₂|PMSA1|PQQ-GDH architecture reaches maximum photocurrent densities of 44.7 ± 6.5 μA cm^-2 at low potentials in the presence of glucose (for a three TiO₂ layer arrangement). The onset potential for the light-driven substrate oxidation is found to be at -0.315 V vs Ag/AgCl (1 M KCl) under illumination with 100 mW cm^-2, which is more negative than the redox potential of the enzyme. The results demonstrate the advantageous properties of IO-TiO₂|PMSA1|PQQ-GDH biohybrid architectures for the light-driven glucose conversion with improved performance.