Hemin immobilized into metal-organic frameworks as an electrochemical biosensor for 2,4,6-trichlorophenol

Hemin immobilized into copper-based metal-organic frameworks was successfully prepared and used as a new electrode material for sensitive electrochemical biosensing. X-ray diffraction patterns, Fourier transform infrared spectra, scanning electron microscopy, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry were used to characterize the resultant composites. Due to the interaction between the copper atom groups and hemin, the constrained environment in Cu-MOF-74 acts as a matrix to avoid the dimerization of enzyme molecules and retain its biological activity. The hemin/Cu-MOF composites demonstrated enhanced electrocatalytical activity and high stability towards the oxidation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol. Under optimum experimental conditions, the sensor showed a wide linear relationship over the range of 0.01-9 μmol L^-1 with a detection limit (3σ) of 0.005 μmol L^-1. The relative standard deviations were 4.6% and 3.5% for five repeated measurements of 0.5 and 5 μmol L^-1 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, respectively. The detection platforms for 2,4,6-trichlorophenol developed here not only indicate that hemin/Cu-MOF-74 possesses intrinsic biological reactivity, but also enable further work to be conducted towards the application of enzyme-containing metal-organic frameworks in electrochemical biosensors.