Acrylic Acid-Based Copolymers as Immobilization Matrix for Amperometric Biosensors†

Abstract

Libraries consisting of acrylic acid-based polymer resins were synthesized by copolymerizing acrylic acid with different alkyl acrylates and 1-vinyl imidazole concomitantly varying the relative concentrations and the number of monomers present in the reaction mixture. The obtained polymer resins are suitable for electrochemically-induced precipitation on electrode surfaces caused by the protonation of acidic side groups at the polymer chains induced by a local electrochemical formation of protons in the diffusion zone in front of the electrode. Addition of suitable biological recognition elements such as glucose oxidase to suspensions of these electrodeposition paints (EDP) led to the entrapment of the enzyme within the slowly precipitating polymer film, and hence to the nonmanual fabrication of amperometric biosensors. The suitability of the obtained copolymers was screened with respect to the performance of the resulting glucose sensors. It could be demonstrated that the chemical composition of the used EDP significantly influences the properties of the sensors in terms of sensitivity and linear range of their response to glucose. †This article is dedicated to Prof. Dr. Pierre Coulet on the occasion of his retirement.