A rapid and easy procedure of biosensor fabrication by microencapsulation of enzyme in hydrophilic synthetic latex films. Application to the amperometric determination of glucose

Novel enzyme electrodes based on synthetic hydrophilic latex matrices are described for the detection of glucose. Glucose oxidase was immobilised through micro-encapsulation, by the simple adsorption of enzyme-latex suspensions on the surface of a platinum electrode. Two latex films functionalised by a hydroxy or a gluconamide group were used. The response of these biosensors to glucose additions was measured by potentiostating the modified electrodes at 0.6 V/SCE in order to oxidise the hydrogen peroxide generated by the enzymatic oxidation of glucose in the presence of dioxygen. The response of such electrodes was evaluated as a function of film thickness and temperature. The sensitivity for a two-layer latex-based biosensor was found to be 38.78 mA M-1 cm(-2) with a response time of 3-5 s. Moreover, a marked improvement of the thermal stability of the biosensor was observed. Only at temperatures higher than 65 degreesC the enzyme started to be denatured and being inactive. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.