Modification of composites of block copolymers–gold nanoparticles with enzymes and their characterization by electrochemical techniques

In this work, the poly(styrene-vynil pyridine) block copolymer was used as a porous pattern to study the electrodeposition of gold inside the pores, as a new method to obtain gold nanoparticles. The porous pattern left by the copolymer film onto a conductive glass surface was characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), evidencing pores of 30 nm diameter. After the electrodeposition, 30 nm diameter gold nanoparticles were obtained and they were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and AFM, and then used to study the adsorption of glucose oxidase enzyme. The adsorption process of glucose oxidase on gold nanowires was investigated by CV and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The morphological and capacitance results indicate that the block copolymer–gold nanoparticle composite seems to be a good candidate to design biosensors and immunosensors.