A thionine-modified carbon paste amperometric biosensor for catechol and bisphenol A determination

A thionine-modified carbon paste electrode for catechol and Bisphenol A (BPA) detection is presented. Graphite powder was modified by adsorbing thionine as electrochemical mediator. The electrochemical response of the modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) was determined before electrode modification with tyrosinase. Then, tyrosinase was added in order to assemble a biosensor. Once established the best operative conditions, an interelectrode reproducibility around 7% was obtained and the resulting biosensor showed improved sensitivities and (S = 139.6 +/- 1.1 nA/mu M for catechol and S = 85.4 +/- 1.5 nA/mu M for BPA) in comparison with the biosensor constructed without thionine (S = 104.4 +/- 0.5 nA/mu M for catechol and S = 51.1 +/- 0.6 nA/mu M for BPA) and low detection limits (0.15 mu M for both the electrodes and analytes). Also the comparison with the results reported in the literature showed higher sensitivity and lower detection limit for our biosensor. Moreover the functioning of the thionine-tyrosinase CPE was validated following a biodegradation process of water polluted by BPA and comparing the time changes of BPA concentration inferred by the biosensor calibration curve and those determined by means of HPLC measurements. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.