An optical biosensor based on immobilization of laccase and MBTH in stacked films for the detection of catechol

The fabrication of an optical biosensor by using stacked films where 3-methyl2- benzothiazolinone hydrazone (MBTH) was immobilized in a hybrid nafion/sol-gel silicate film and laccase in a chitosan film for the detection of phenolic compounds was described. Quinone and/or phenoxy radical product from the enzymatic oxidation of phenolic compounds was allowed to couple with MBTH to form a colored azo-dye product for spectrophometric detection. The biosensor demonstrated a linear response to catechol concentration range of 0.5-8.0 mM with detection limit of 0.33 mM and response time of 10 min. The reproducibility of the fabricated biosensor was good with RSD value of 5.3 % (n = 8) and stable for at least 2 months. The use of the hybrid materials of nafion/sol-gel silicate to immobilize laccase has altered the selectivity of the enzyme to various phenolic compounds such as catechol, guaicol, o-cresol and m-cresol when compared to the non-immobilized enzyme. When immobilized in this hybrid film, the biosensor response only to catechol and not other phenolic compounds investigated. Immobilization in this hybrid material has enable the biosensor to be more selective to catechol compared with the non-immobilized enzyme. This shows that by a careful selection of different immobilization matrices, the selectivity of an enzyme can be modified to yield a biosensor with good selectivity towards certain targeted analytes.