Studies on glucose biosensors based on nonmediated and mediated electrochemical oxidation of reduced glucose oxidase encapsulated within organically modified sol-gel glasses

A new, organically modified sol-gel glass electrode is reported using 3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane and 2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)-ethyltrimethoxy silane as sol-gel precursors for the construction of electrochemical biosensors. Four different systems of new sol-gel grass modified glucose electrodes are made in acidic medium having common sol-gel precursors and: 1) glucose oxidase, 2) glucose oxidase along with polyethylene glycol, 3) glucose oxidase and graphite powder, and 4) glucose oxidase along with polyethylene glycol and graphite powder. Both nonmediated and mediated electrochemical regeneration of immobilized glucose oxidase within sol-gel glasses are studied in these four systems. The nonmediated regeneration is achieved in the presence of oxygen as electron donor whereas mediated regeneration involves soluble ferrocene monocarboxylic acid as electron donor in each system. The electrochemical performance of sol-gel glass based biosensors is compared on the basis of cyclic voltammetry and amperometry. This leads to the observations: i) all four systems reach a diffusion limited condition associated with the transport of soluble ferrocene monocarboxylic acid as well as for dissolved oxygen within the sol-gel matrix, ii) the relative rate of diffusion of these analytes increases from system I to system 4, iii) both nonmediated and mediated amperometric responses at suitable potentials are based on the oxidation of H2O2 and enzymatically reduced soluble ferrocene with relatively amplified electrochemical signal of system 4. Data on the reduction of oxygen at conventional graphite disk electrode and at typical sol-gel glass modified electrode are reported.