A Novel Flow-Injection Analysis Method of Glucose Based on Template-Synthesized Sol–Gel Nanotube Array Enzyme Membrane Reactor.

A synthetic enzyme-loading nanotube membrane was developed and used in flow-injection analysis (FIA) for the first time. The membrane was based on an anodic alumina oxide (AAO) film that has cylindrical pores with monodisperse nanoscopic diameters, and silica nanotubes (SNTs) were chemically synthesized within the pores of this film through sol–gel chemistry. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was immobilized on the inner walls of the SNTs. The fabrication and initial testing of a flow-through membrane reactor design for heterogeneous enzyme reactions were presented and applied to the determination of glucose in real samples. This novel immobilized enzyme membrane reactor possesses some advantages over both open-tubular and packed-bed reactors often used in FIA. The present work shows that the membrane containing SNTs offers considerable potential and new perspectives for the use of such nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]