Amperometric biosensor coupled to capillary electrophoresis for glucose determination

A novel glucose biosensor has been fabricated and employed as the amperometric detector of a capillary electrophoresis (CE) system. (+/-)-1-Ferrocenylethylamine and chitosan were successively modified on a 500-mu m diameter disc platinum electrode by dip-coating. The modified electrode was subsequently immersed in glucose oxidase (GOx) solution to entrap the enzyme in the chitosan membrane. The primary amino groups of 1-ferrocenylethylamine, GOx, and chitosan were cross-linked by glutaraldehyde to obtain a biosensing membrane so as to reduce leaching of 1-ferrocenylethylamine and GOx. The electrochemical behavior of the target biosensor was investigated. It was demonstrated that the investigated biosensor features fast response, high stability, long lifetime, and ideal compatibility with the CE system. When CE was employed to introduce a glucose plug into the surface of the biosensor, the current response was linear to the glucose concentration in the range of 0.0025 to 2.5 mM with a detection limit of 1.2 mu M (S/N = 3) at a working potential of +0.6 V (vs. SCE). The CE-biosensor system was applied to the determination of the glucose level in human serum. The results were satisfactory and in good agreement with the hospital assay results.