A novel polypyrrole–phenylboronic acid based electrochemical saccharide sensor

A novel N-phenylboronic acid substituted polypyrrole based sensor for saccharide detection was investigated. As the first time, 3-(1H-pyrrol-1-yl)phenylboronic acid was synthesized and used for the preparation of sensing surface on platinum (Pt) electrode by using electrochemical cyclic voltammetry technique (CV). Characterization of the monomer and the polymer were performed using NMR, FTIR, TOF-MS, SEM and AFM. The applicability of this sensor was examined for potentiometric detection of saccharides (d-glucose, d-fructose, d-galactose, d-lactose and d-sucrose). The binding interaction between polypyrrole–phenylboronic acid and saccharides was followed in the order of d-fructose > d-glucose > d-galactose > d-lactose > d-sucrose. The effect of pH on the binding interaction of d-glucose and d-fructose to phenylboronic acid was investigated. The best interaction was obtained at pH 12.0. Reusability of the sensor was tested and it was observed that there was no response change up to 10 usages. These results indicate that polypyrrole based type sensors can be developed for designing new reusable biosensors.