Ultra-high redox enzyme signal transduction using highly ordered carbon nanotube array electrodes

We report on a highly ordered array of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that serves as a universally direct nanoelectrode interface for redox proteins and provides an efficient conduit for electron transfer. The site-selective, covalent docking of the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx) on the CNT tips is found to have a marked effect on enhancing electron transfer properties, as measured by cyclic voltammetry. A unimolecular electron transfer rate of 1500 s−1 has been measured for this system, a value exceeding the rate of oxygen reduction by glucose oxidase. Furthermore, the redox enzyme-CNT array conjugate can be utilized as a quantitative, substrate-specific biosensor.