The potential use of hydrazine as an alternative to peroxidase in a biosensor: comparison between hydrazine and HRP-based glucose sensors

The potential use of hydrazine sulfate was examined for the catalytic reduction of enzymatically generated H2O2 in a biosensor system. The performance of the hydrazine-based sensor was compared with an HRP-based glucose sensor as a model of a biosensor. Hydrazine and HRP were covalently immobilized onto a conducting polymer layer with glucose oxidase. The direct electron transfer reactions of the immobilized hydrazine and HRP onto the poly-5,2′:5,2″-terthiophene-3′-carboxylic acid (poly-TTCA) layer were investigated by using cyclic voltammetric method and the electron transfer rate constants were determined. The glucose oxidase- and hydrazine-immobilized sensor efficiently reduced the enzymatically generated H2O2 at −0.15 V versus Ag/AgCl. The surface of this GOx/hydrazine/poly-TTCA-based glucose sensor was characterized by QCM, SEM, and ESCA. Glucose-sensing properties were studied using cyclic voltammetric and chronoamperometric techniques. Various experimental parameters were optimized according to the amount of hydrazine, pH, the temperature, and the applied potential. A linear calibration plot was obtained in the concentration range between 0.1 and 15.0 mM, and the detection limit was determined to be 40.0 ± 7.0 μM. Interferences from other biological compounds were studied. The long-term stability of the GOx/hydrazine sensor was better than that of the one based on a GOx/HRP biosensor. The proposed glucose sensor was successfully applied to human whole blood and urine samples for the detection of glucose.