A universal oxygen scavenger for oxidase-based biosensors

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Biosensor Technology
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Oxidase-based electrochemical biosensors are vital for point-of-use diagnostics.
• Oxygen interference significantly compromises the accuracy of these biosensors.
• Existing methods struggle to mitigate oxygen's detrimental effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a universal enzymatic oxygen scavenger for oxidase biosensors.
• To eliminate oxygen interference and enhance sensing accuracy.
• To demonstrate broad applicability across various analytes.

Main Methods:

• Engineered an enzymatic oxygen scavenger using alcohol oxidase, catalase, and paraformaldehyde.
• Alcohol oxidase was chosen for its exclusive use of oxygen as an electron acceptor.
• Tested the scavenger's compatibility with glucose, lactate, and creatinine biosensors.

Main Results:

• The oxygen scavenger effectively converted oxygen to water, removing it from the sensor environment.
• Without the scavenger, sensor readings were below 50% accuracy compared to inert conditions.
• With the scavenger, accuracy improved to 99%, even at low analyte concentrations.

Conclusions:

• The developed alcohol oxidase-based oxygen scavenger is compatible with multiple oxidase biosensors.
• This technology significantly enhances biosensor accuracy by eliminating oxygen interference.
• The scavenger enables reliable, calibration-free point-of-use sensing for health monitoring.