Immobilization of glucose oxidase on polyethylene film using a plasma induced graft copolymerization process

An active glucose oxidase immobilized membrane was obtained via plasma induced graft copolymerization of acrylic acid on polyethylene film. Plasma induced graft copolymerization of acrylic acid on polyethylene film has been prepared. This novel grafted polymer film for immobilizing glucose oxidase has been studied here. The carboxylic groups of the poly(acrylic acid) chains incorporated onto the polyethylene surface were utilized for further chemical immobilization of glucose oxidase by esterification. The influence of plasma conditions such as plasma treatment gases, power, pressure, and time on the activity of the enzyme immobilized membrane has been determined. ESCA was used for analyzing the plasma treated polyethylene films and plasma induced grafted copolymerization products so as to obtain the optimum conditions for the immobilization of bioactive materials. The introduction of carboxylic acid groups onto a hydrophobic support has provided a good environment for enzyme bioactivity. The hydrophilicity of the grafted film and the activity of the enzyme membrane were proportional to the grafted amount. The glucose oxidase immobilized membrane shows no shift of optimum pH but do exhibit changes of pH-activity curve. The glucose oxidase immobilized membrane was shown here to be less pH sensitive than the soluble one.