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In this study, for the first time, an electrochemical detection method was proposed to detect direct electron transfer signal from HIV-1 Virus. Au nanoparticles were fabricated on the Indium Tin Oxide coated glass (ITO) electrode by electrochemical deposition to improve the surface area to provide better electron-transfer kinetics, and higher background charging current. On the Au nanoparticle modified ITO electrode, antibody fragment was immobilized by self-assembly method with gold-thiol interaction and different concentrations of HIV-1 Virus like particles (VLPs) were applied for the direct determination. Due to the advantage of fabricated Au nanoparticle's excellent electrical and mechanical properties, HIV-1 VLPs were successfully detected from 600 fg/mL to 375 pg/mL. Furthermore, since the proposed electrochemical virus sensor is designed for direct determination without any labeling structure, the electrochemical communication between redox target and electrode surface will reduce interference reactions and simplifies the detection system with small amount of reagent and better stability. Therefore, highly sensitive virus sensor was developed to detect HIV-1 Virus in a label free system., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A highly-sensitive glucose biosensor amenable to ultra-miniaturisation was fabricated by immobilisation of glucose oxidase (GOx), onto a poly(2,6-diaminopyridine)/multi-walled carbon nanotube/glassy carbon electrode (poly(2,6-DP)/MWNT/GCE). Cyclic voltammetry was used for both the electrochemical synthesis of poly-(2,6-DP) on the surface of a MWNT-modified GC electrode, and characterisation of the polymers deposited on the GC electrode. The synergistic effect of the high active surface area of both the conducting polymer, i.e., poly-(2,6-DP) and MWNT gave rise to a remarkable improvement in the electrocatalytic properties of the biosensor. The transfer coefficient (α), heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant and Michaelis-Menten constant were calculated to be 0.6, 4 s(-1) and 0.20 mM at pH 7.4, respectively. The GOx/poly(2,6-DP)/MWNT/GC bioelectrode exhibited two linear responses to glucose in the concentration ranging from 0.42 μM to 8.0 mM with a correlation coefficient of 0.95, sensitivity of 52.0 μA mM(-1) cm(-2), repeatability of 1.6% and long-term stability, which could make it a promising bioelectrode for precise detection of glucose in the biological samples., (© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) was dechlorinated by electrochemically active bacteria using an electrode as the direct electron donor. Dechlorination efficiency and coulombic efficiency (CE) were investigated. When hydrogen evolution reaction was eliminated by controlling the potential, both dechlorination efficiency and CE increase as the potential decreases, which implied the dechlorination was stimulated by electric current rather than hydrogen gas. Further investigation of the cyclic voltammetry characterization of the medium revealed nearly no redox mediator secreted by the bacteria. Moreover, the comparison of dechlorination experiments carried out with filtered and unfiltered medium provided convincible evidence that the dominating electron transfer mechanism for the dechlorination is direct electron transfer. Additionally, 454 pyrosequencing technique was employed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the biocathodic microbial community. The results showed Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the three predominant groups. This paper demonstrated the direct electron transfer mechanism could be involved in PCP dechlorination with a biocathode., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Sulfonated polyanilines have become promising building blocks in the construction of biosensors, and therefore we use here differently substituted polymer forms to investigate the role of their structural composition and properties in achieving a direct electron transfer with the redox enzyme pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent glucose dehydrogenase (PQQ-GDH). To this end, new copolymers containing different ratios of 2-methoxyaniline-5-sulfonic acid (MAS), 3-aminobenzenesulfonic acid (ABS) and 3-aminobenzoic acid (AB) units have been chemically synthesized. All polymers have been studied with respect to their ability to react directly with PQQ-GDH. This interaction has been monitored initially in solution, and subsequently on electrode surfaces. The results show that only copolymers with MAS and aniline units can directly react with PQQ-GDH in solution; the background can be mainly ascribed to the emeraldine salt redox state of the polymer, allowing rather easy reduction. However, when polymers and the enzyme are immobilized on the surface of carbon nanotube-containing electrodes, direct bioelectrocatalysis is also feasible in the case of copolymers composed of ABS/AB and MAS/AB units, existing initially in pernigraniline base form. This verifies that a productive interaction of the enzyme with differently substituted polymers is feasible when the electrode potential can be used to drive the reaction towards the oxidation of the substrate-reduced enzyme. These results clearly demonstrate that enzyme electrodes based on sulfonated polyanilines and direct bioelectrocatalysis can be successfully constructed., (Copyright © 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The article describes the construction, immobilisation and electrochemistry of histidine tagged laccase from Melanocarpus albomyces. A facile method of functionalisation of glassy carbon electrodes with nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) using diazonium grafting and solid state chemistry is described. NTA-modified electrodes are shown to bind laccase which reduces oxygen at neutral pH in the presence of soluble redox mediator. Laccase-modified electrodes are also prepared by enzyme immobilisation within poly(aniline)/poly(vinylsulfonate) films. The polymer is found to efficiently retain the enzyme as well as provide direct electrical contact between the electrode and the enzyme active centre. Cyclic voltammetry reveals the direct electron transfer to the enzyme is dependent on the redox state of the polymer film., (Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A highly sensitive biosensor was fabricated by incorporating myoglobin (Mb) within graphene oxide (GO) sheets and Nafion composite films. The stable composite Mb-GO-Nafion films were characterized by electrochemistry, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy. It was found that Mb in Mb-GO-Nafion films retained its secondary structure similar to its native states. Cyclic voltammetry of Mb-GO-Nafion films showed a pair of well defined, quasi-reversible peaks at about -0.312 V vs saturated calomel electrode (SCE) at pH 5.5, corresponding to direct electron transfer (DET) between Mb and the glassy carbon electrode. Electrochemical parameter of Mb in Mb-GO-Nafion film such as apparent heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant ( k s ) and formal potential ( E o' ) were obtained. The dependence of E o' on solution pH indicated that the DET reaction of Mb was coupled with proton transfer. Mb in the films displayed good electrocatalytic activities towards various substrates such as hydrogen peroxide, nitrite and oxygen, indicating that the composite films have potential applications in fabricating novel biosensors without using mediators.

The novel highly ordered mesoporous carbon (known as FDU-15), prepared by the organic-organic self-assembly method was been used for first time for the immobilization of hemoglobin (Hb) and its bioelectrochemical properties were studied. The resulting Hb/FDU-15 film provided a favorable microenvironment for Hb to perform direct electron transfers at the electrode. The immobilized Hb also displayed its good electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide. The results demonstrate that mesoporous carbon FDU-15 can improve the Hb loading with retention of its bioactivity and greatly promote the direct electron transfer, which can be attributed to its high specific surface area, uniform ordered porous structure, suitable pore size and biocompatibility. Our present study may provide an alternative way for the construction of nanostructure biofunctional surfaces and pave the way for its application to biosensors.

We have studied the direct electrochemistry of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) coupled to gold nanoparticles (AuNP) using electrochemical techniques, which provide some insight in the application of biosensors as tools for diagnostics because HRP is widely used in clinical diagnostics kits. AuNP capped with (i) glutathione and (ii) lipoic acid was covalently linked to HRP. The immobilized HRP/AuNP conjugate showed characteristic redox peaks at a gold electrode. It displayed good electrocatalytic response to the reduction of H(2)O(2), with good sensitivity and without any electron mediator. The covalent linking of HRP and AuNP did not affect the activity of the enzyme significantly. The response of the electrode towards the different concentrations of H(2)O(2) showed the characteristics of Michaelis Menten enzyme kinetics with an optimum pH between 7.0 to 8.0. The preparation of the sensor involves single layer of enzyme, which can be carried out efficiently and is also highly reproducible when compared to other systems involving the layer-by-layer assembly, adsorption or encapsulation of the enzyme. The immobilized AuNP-HRP can be used for immunosensor applications.