Electrochemical Urea Biosensor Based on Sol-gel Derived Nanostructured Cerium Oxide

Urease (Urs) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) have been co-immobilized onto a nanostructured-cerium oxide (Nano-CeO2) film deposited onto a indium-tin-oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate by dip-coating via sol-gel process for urea detection. This nanostructured film has characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electrochemical techniques, respectively. The particle size of the Nano-CeO2 film has been found to be 23 nm. Electrochemcial response (CV) studies show that Ur-GLDH/Nano-CeO2/ITO bioelectrode is found to be sensitive in the 10-80 mg/dL urea concentration range and can detect urea concentration upto 0.1 mg/dL level. The value of Michaelis-Menten constant (K-m) estimated using Lineweaver-Burke plot found as 6.09 mg/dL indicates enhancement in the affinity and/or activity of enzyme attached to their nanobiocomposite. This bioelectrode retained 95% of enzyme activity after 6 months at 4 degrees C.