Renewable silica sol-gel derived carbon composite based glucose biosensor

An amperometric mediated glucose biosensor has been developed based on a sol-gel derived carbon composite material. Glucose oxidase and the mediator vinylferrocene have been immobilised within the porous, rigid and organically modified silicate network in the composite material. The organic group in the silicate network controls the hydrophobicity of the electrode surface and thus limits the wettability of the electrode surface. Various important fabrication factors controlling the biosensor performance have been investigated systematically. The glucose biosensor can be renewed easily in a reproducible manner by a simple polishing step and it has a long operational lifetime. Applicability of the biosensor has been demonstrated in real samples and the results obtained by this biosensor corroborate well with a classical UV spectrophotometric technique. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.