Abstract:

A novel electrochemical tyrosinase biosensor based on ordered graphitized mesoporous carbon (GMC) was obtained, which was used as a platform for phenol detection. The accuracy of tyrosinase biosensor method was comparatively evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). By entrapping tyrosinase molecules (6.5 nm×9.8 nm×5.5 nm) into the mesopores of GMC (diameter 10 nm, GMC10), the "interspace confinement effect" of GMC10 may improve the stability of tyrosinase in vitro. After 21-day storage, the GMC10-based tyrosinase biosensor retained more than 85% of its initial response. It is indicated that GMC10 with "interspace confinement effect" can significantly prolong the life of tyrosinase molecules in vitro. Furthermore, the GMC-based tyrosinase biosensor displayed excellent analytical performances for phenol detection, such as stability, repeatability, selectivity, sensitivity and limit of detection. The GMC-based tyrosinase biosensor demonstrated a linear response for phenol from 0.1 to 10 μmol/L with a low detection limit of 20 nmol/L. The comparative study between HPLC and GMC-based tyrosinase biosensor showed that the detection of phenol in water sample by the GMC-based tyrosinase biosensor method is reliable, accurate and effective. The proposed GMC-based tyrosinase biosensor proved to be a very promising "pre-alarm" tool for rapid detecting phenol pollution in emergency accidents.

Key words: electrochemical biosensor, graphitized mesoporous carbon (GMC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), phenol, tyrosinase, water