Thin-film conductometric biosensors for glucose and urea determination

The characteristics of the developed conductometric biosensors for urea and glucose determination are described. Conductometric transducers based on thin-film interdigitated metal (Au, Cr, Cu, Ni) electrodes were studied, and enzymes urease and glucose oxidase were used for the selective membranes formation on the chips having gold electrodes. The influence of ionic strength and buffer capacity of the samples on the biosensors response in kinetic and steady-state modes of measurements was thoroughly tested. It was shown that the kinetic response of the sensors does not depend on the buffer capacity of the analyzed sample. In basic features the performance of the developed biosensors is rather close to that of respective enzyme field effect transistor, though the former are much superior when the technological complexity of the transducer itself is considered and taking into account that conductometric sensors require no reference electrode.