Application of Polyaniline to an Enzyme-Amplified Electrochemical Immunosensor as an Electroactive Report Molecule

Abstract

Conducting polymers (CPs) are widely used as matrixes for the entrapment of enzymes in analytical chemistry and biosensing devices. However, enzyme-catalyzed polymerization of CPs is rarely used for immunosensing due to the difficulties involved in the quantitative analysis of colloidal CPs in solution phase. In this study, an enzyme-amplified electrocatalytic immunosensor employing a CP as a redox marker has been developed. A polyanionic polymer matrix, α-amino-ω-thiol terminated poly(acrylic acid), was employed for precipitation of CP. The acrylic acid group acts as a polyanionic template. The thiol terminus of the polymer was used to produce self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au electrodes and the amine terminus was employed for immobilization of biomolecules. In an enzyme- amplified sandwich type immunosensor, the polyaniline (PANI) produced enzymatically is attracted by the electro- static force of the matrix polymer. The precipitated PANI was characterized by electrochemical methods.