Oxidoreductase enzymes attached on 1D and 2D-Nanosized materials: fundamentals studies and application in Bioelectronics

• Grant number: 13/15433-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): September 30, 2013
• Effective date (End): September 29, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Frank Nelson Crespilho
• Grantee: Rodrigo Michelin Iost
• Supervisor: Kannan Balasubramanian
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Max Planck Society, Stuttgart, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/15442-6 - Miniaturization of Biofuel Cells Using Flexible Carbon Fiber Materials, BP.DR

Abstract

The possibility to probe small quantities of molecules has taken to new dimension of electrochemical devices in the last decade with the development of micro and nanomanipulation techniques. The development of these techniques has been permitting the manipulation of small quantities and/or individual materials to study events at atomic and molecular level. Regards the manipulation of materials for development of miniaturized electrochemical devices, high and efficient kinetic of charge transfer can be obtained due to their large surface area and unique electronic properties. For this purpose, 1D and 2D materials such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene sheets (GS) are considered as very promising materials. Focuses has also been made in order to achieve high efficiency of charge transfer of biomolecules when in contact with these kind of materials, which is very promising considering the development of miniaturized biosensors and biofuel cells. In this project we will use small quantities of carbon nanotubes and graphene sheets as platforms to study bioelectrochemical properties of oxidoreductase enzymes glucose oxidase (GOx), glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) and bilirubin oxidase (BOx). The objective is to expose micro and/or nanoscale areas using platforms containing small quantities of CNTs or GS by litography. In our case, electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry will be used to investigate kinetic parameters of the enzymes when attached to these nanomaterial. (AU)