Zhang_2014_Anal.Chim.Acta_827_86

There is an increasing need to develop biosensors for the detection of harmful pesticide residues in food and water. Here, we report on a versatile strategy to synthesize functionalized graphene oxide nanomaterials with abundant affinity groups that can capture histidine (His)-tagged acetylcholinesterase (AChE) for the fabrication of paraoxon biosensors. Initially, exfoliated graphene oxide (GO) was functionalized by a diazonium reaction to introduce abundant carboxyl groups. Then, Nalpha,Nalpha-bis(carboxymethyl)-l-lysine hydrate (NTA-NH2) and Ni(2+) were anchored onto the GO based materials step by step. AChE was immobilized on the functionalized graphene oxide (FGO) through the specific binding between Ni-NTA and His-tag. A low anodic oxidation potential was observed due to an enhanced electrocatalytic activity and a large surface area brought about by the use of FGO. Furthermore, a sensitivity of 2.23muAmM(-1) to the acetylthiocholine chloride (ATChCl) substrate was found for our composite covered electrodes. The electrodes also showed a wide linear response range from 10muM to 1mM (R(2)=0.996), with an estimated detection limit of 3muM based on an S/N=3. The stable chelation between Ni-NTA and His-tagged AChE endowed our electrodes with great short-term and long-term stability. In addition, a linear correlation was found between paraoxon concentration and the inhibition response of the electrodes to paraoxon, with a detection limit of 6.5x10(-10)M. This versatile strategy provides a platform to fabricate graphene oxide based nanomaterials for biosensor applications.