Achieving direct electrical connection to glucose oxidase using aligned single walled carbon nanotube arrays

Direct electron transfer between an electrode and the redox active centre of glucose oxidase, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), is probed using carbon nanotube modified gold electrodes. Gold electrodes are first modified with a self-assembled monolayer of cysteamine and then shortened single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are aligned normal to the electrode surface by self-assembly. The electrochemistry of these aligned nanotube electrode arrays is initially investigated using potassium ferricyanide which showed SWNT act as nanoelectrodes with the ends of the tubes more electrochemically active than the walls. Subsequently the nanotubes are plugged into the enzymes in one of two ways. In the first method, native glucose oxidase is covalently attached to the ends of the aligned tubes which allowed close approach to FAD and direct electron transfer to be observed with a rate constant of 0.3 s(-1). In the second strategy, FAD was attached to the ends of the tubes and the enzyme reconstituted around the surface immobilized FAD. This latter approach allowed more efficient electron transfer to the FAD with a rate constant of 9 s(-1).