Geometrical effects of nanowire electrodes for amperometric enzyme biosensors

Abstract

Enzymatic biosensor reactions follow the Michaelis-Menten kinetics, coupled with diffusion. The diffusion reaction processes for amperometric enzyme biosensors have been simulated to explore the geometrical effects of nanowire array electrodes (NWAEs) and nanowire array stack electrodes (NWASEs) from the viewpoint of enhanced mass transport and increased reaction surface area in two limiting cases. For practical analysis considering sensor fabrication, most samples are assumed to have the same unit square (1 cm x 1 cm) footprint. In the reaction-controlled case, the surface area increment improves the sensitivity regardless of electrode geometry. However, in the diffusion-controlled case, well-controlled NWAE or NWASE geometries as well as the increased surface area improve the sensitivity when the peak current at an early stage of the reaction is measured. Peak current engineering by adjusting the geometric parameters of NWAEs and NWASEs will result in a highly sensitive amperometric enzyme biosensor in the diffusion-controlled case. In contrast to previous micro-and nanoelectrode array studies, we investigated NWASEs representing entangled nanowire network electrodes, and report significant improvements in both limiting cases. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.