A Review on Direct Electrochemistry of Catalase for Electrochemical Sensors

Catalase (CAT) is a heme enzyme with a Fe((III/II)) prosthetic group at its redox centre. CAT is present in almost all aerobic living organisms, where it catalyzes the disproportionation of H(2)O(2) into oxygen and water without forming free radicals. In order to study this catalytic mechanism in detail, the direct electrochemistry of CAT has been investigated at various modified electrode surfaces with and without nanomaterials. The results show that CAT immobilized on nanomaterial modified electrodes shows excellent catalytic activity, high sensitivity and the lowest detection limit for H(2)O(2) determination. In the presence of nanomaterials, the direct electron transfer between the heme group of the enzyme and the electrode surface improved significantly. Moreover, the immobilized CAT is highly biocompatible and remains extremely stable within the nanomaterial matrices. This review discusses about the versatile approaches carried out in CAT immobilization for direct electrochemistry and electrochemical sensor development aimed as efficient H(2)O(2) determination. The benefits of immobilizing CAT in nanomaterial matrices have also been highlighted.