The flavoenzymes flavin adenine dinucleotidedependent glucose dehydrogenase (FAD-GDH) and oxidase (FAD-GOx) do not undergo direct electron transfer (DET) at conventional electrodes, because the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) cofactor is buried deeply (∼1.4 nm) below the protein surface. We present a mediator-less DET between oxygeninsensitive FAD-GDH and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). A glucose-concentration-dependent current (GCDC) is observed at the electrode with the combination of glycosylated FAD-GDH and debundled SWCNTs; the GCDC, because of an increase in the polarized potential during potential sweep voltammetry, increases steeply (+0.1 V of onset, 1.2 mA cm −2 at +0.6 V 48 mM glucose) without the appearance of the FAD redox peak at −0.45 V. In the control experiment, the GCDC is not observed at the counterpart with either bundled SWCNTs or debundled multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). In the control experiment, the GCDC is observed at an analogous electrode based on oxygen-sensitive FAD-GOx with all CNT types (bundled SWCNTs, debundled SWCNTs, and debundled MWCNTs) in the presence of oxygen because oxygen acts as a natural and mobile mediator. Therefore, observation of the GCDC at the electrode with oxygen-insensitive FAD-GDH and debundled SWCNTs provides evidence of mediator-less DET, even though oxygen is present. Details of the DET are discussed with respect to the recently reported crystallographic model of FAD-GDH. The three-dimensional globular FAD-GDH molecule is 4.5 nm × 5.6 nm × 7.8 nm, which is larger than the 1.2 nm diameter of an individual SWCNT and smaller than the 10 nm diameter of an individual MWCNT and the 1 μm size of a SWCNT bundle. Only individual SWCNTs can be plugged into the groove of FAD-GDH, which is close to and within 1.0 nm of FAD, while maintaining their catalytic activity. Images obtained using transmission electron and atomic force microscopies support the stated configuration of FAD-GDH molecules and debundled SWCNTs. We demonstrate that DET can be explained by quantum tunneling theory. Electrochemical experiments with various FAD-GDHs suggest that (i) DET with debundling SWCNT can be applied to any type of FAD-GDH, (ii) the electrode with various types of FAD-GDH implements superior functions (compared to an analogous electrode with FAD-GOx and nicotineamide adenine dinucleotide-GDH), and (iii) glycan chains present on FAD-GDH prevent denaturation when the SWCNT is close to FAD.

Microwave-assisted atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization is presented. A system with a re-entrant microwave cavity realizes simple matching, stable plasma, and free space under the orifice of plasma steam. Hexamethyldisiloxane is employed as a monomer, while argon is used as a carrier gas. The effective area of the hydrophobic coating film used corresponds to a circle of 20 mm diameter and the deposition rate considered is 5 nm/min. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy shows that the coating film has a large molecular weight (>200 kDa), suggesting that a high-crosslinking and three-dimensional polymer matrix is formed and microwave-assisted atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization is fulfilled.

An amperometric biosensor based on a glassy carbon electrode modified with long-length multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and enzyme nicotinamide-adenine-dinucleotide-dependent glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) is presented. We demonstrate the effect of the MWCNT length on the amperometric response of the enzyme biosensor. The long length of MWCNT is 200 µm (average), whereas the normal length of MWCNT is 1 µm (average). The response of the long MWCNT–GDH electrode is 2 times more sensitive than that of the normal-length MWCNT–GDH electrode in the concentration range from 0.25–35 mM. The result of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements suggest that the long-length MWCNT–GDH electrode formed a better electron transfer network than the normal-length one.

An amperometric enzyme biosensor with electronic-type-controlled (metallic and semiconducting) single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is presented. In this research, we investigate how the electronic types of CNTs influence the amperometric response of enzyme biosensors and what their working mechanisms are. The biosensor of interest is for glucose detection using enzyme glucose oxidase (GOD). In the presence of oxygen, the response of a metallic CNT-GOD electrode was 2.5 times more sensitive than that of a semiconducting CNT-GOD electrode. In contrast, in the absence of oxygen, the response of the semiconducting CNT-GOD electrode was retained, whereas that of the metallic CNT-GOD electrode was significantly reduced. This indicates that direct electron transfer occurred with the semiconducting CNT-GOD electrode, whereas the metallic CNT-GOD electrode was dominated by a hydrogen peroxide pathway caused by an enzymatic reaction. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to show that the semiconducting CNT network has less resistance for electron transfer than the metallic CNT network. The optimized glucose biosensor revealed a sensitivity of 5.6 µA mM−1 cm−2 at +0.6 V vs Ag/AgCl, a linear dynamic range of 0.025–1.4 mM, and a response time of 8 s.

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