(393f) Nanoscale Enzyme Reactors in Mesoporous Carbons for Sensitive and Reliable Biosensors

It has been demonstrated that the approach of nanoscale enzyme reactors (NERs), consisting of enzyme adsorption and crosslinking, can improve both the enzyme stability and loading in mesoporous materials with a bottle-neck structure. These advantageous features of NERs result from the ship-in-a-bottle mechanism, in which crosslinked enzymes in larger-sized mesocellular pores cannot be leached out through smaller-sized bottle-neck mesopores. MSU-F-C, a mesoprous carbon, has a bottleneck pore structure with mesocellular pores of 26nm connected with window mesopores of 17 nm. When compared to simple adsorption with no crosslinking, the NER approach proved to be effective in improving the stability and sensitivity of electrochemical biosensors. The performance of biosensors is governed by the combination of high enzyme loading and follow-up electron generation. The improved performance with NERs of glucose oxidase (GOx) and organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH) in conductive mesoporous carbons will be presented in comparison with free and adsorbed enzyme. The excellent stability of the NER creates new potential of practical, environmental, and electrochemical applications of biosensors.