Research paperA spick-and-span approach to the immobilization of horseradish peroxidase on Au nanospheres incorporated with a methionine/graphene biomatrix for the determination of endocrine disruptor bisphenol A

•HRP/AuNPs/S-RGO biocomposite has been prepared to determine bisphenol A.•The AuNPs/S-RGO is a promising platform for HRP immobilization.•The biosensor exhibits excellent stability, reproducibility and high selectivity.•It exhibits LOD of 2.6 × 10−12 in a wide linear range from 2.0 × 10−11 to 1.18 × 10−9 M.•It detects bisphenol A in real samples such as tomato juice and milk.

In the present study, we employ a straightforward, benign strategy to prepare thiol-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (S-RGO) using methionine as the sulphur source and reducing agent. The immobilization of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) over the AuNPs/S-RGO was developed by incorporating AuNPs on the S-RGO surface. The fabricated HRP/AuNPs/S-RGO electrode exhibits a remarkable decrease in the overpotential and a significantly increased oxidation peak current of bisphenol A (BPA) compared with the bare glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and AuNPs/S-RGO electrode. The biosensor shows an excellent amperometric analytical performance with a low detection limit of 2.6 × 10−12 M and a linear range from 2.0 × 10−11 to 1.18 × 10−9 M, with the response time <2 s for BPA. From the results, the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant was calculated as 8.14 nM. The HRP/AuNPs/S-RGO biosensor exhibited faster response, adequate storage stability, inexpensive, simple fabrication with disposability, satisfactory reproducibility and repeatability, and outstanding selectivity. Finally, the constructed biosensor was utilized successfully for detecting BPA in tomato juice and milk samples with acceptable results.

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