Enzyme-Polymers Conjugated to Quantum-Dots for Sensing Applications

In the present research, the concept of developing a novel system based on polymer-enzyme macromolecules was tested by coupling carboxylic acid functionalized poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA-COOH) to glucose oxidase (GOx) followed by the bioconjugation with CdS quantum-dots (QD). The resulting organic-inorganic nanohybrids were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The spectroscopy results have clearly shown that the polymer-enzyme macromolecules (PVA-COOH/GOx) were synthesized by the proposed zero-length linker route. Moreover, they have performed as successful capping agents for the nucleation and constrained growth of CdS quantum-dots via aqueous colloidal chemistry. The TEM images associated with the optical absorption results have indicated the formation of CdS nanocrystals with estimated diameters of about 3.0 nm. The “blue-shift” in the visible absorption spectra and the PL values have provided strong evidence that the fluorescent CdS nanoparticles were produced in the quantum-size confinement regime. Finally, the hybrid system was biochemically assayed by injecting the glucose substrate and detecting the formation of peroxide with the enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Thus, the polymer-enzyme-QD hybrid has behaved as a nanostructured sensor for glucose detecting.