Development of an amperometric biosensor based on acetylcholinesterase immobilized on graphene modified with gold nanoparticles for CARBENDAZIM pesticide detection

Abstract

In this BEPE project a biosensor based on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) immobilized on chemically reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (cr-Gs) modified with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is proposed for carbendazim pesticide detection. The glassy carbon electrode will be modified with a nanohybrid of AuNPs and cr-Gs synthesized by in situ growth of AuNPs on the surface of graphene nanosheets in the presence of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA), which improves the dispersion of AuNPs and also stabilizes cholinesterase with high activity and loading efficiency. The nanohybrid will be characterized by TEM, XRD, XPS and electrochemistry. The enzyme nanoassembly (AChE/AuNPs/cr-Gs) will be prepared by self-assembling AChE on AuNPs/cr-Gs nanohybrid. An electrochemical biosensor will be developed for detection of carbendazim pesticide. This research project will be an important complement to the student's MSc dissertation project conducted at the Instituto de Química de São Carlos - Universidade de São Paulo, since it will enable comparisons amongst the results obtained from three different methodologies for carbendazim pesticide detection, employing an adequate statistical analysis. It will be conducted at The School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering of Washington State University (WSU), in the USA, under the supervision of Dr. Yuehe Lin. (AU)