Influence of conjugated polymers in biossensor for urea detection

Abstract

The study and development of urea biosensors are extremely important for applications such as medical or environmental. However, the non-immobilization of the pure enzyme becomes the device unviable. In this sense, the use of a conjugated polymer in the formation of biosensors is essential, since the polymer behaves like a matrix, enabling an enzymatic immobilization. However, little is known about the function of this polymer and its influence on enzyme activity. Thus, understanding the interaction between these polymeric materials and enzymes may be the key to the formation of a more efficient and sensitive biosensor. Thus, the present work proposes to analyze and research biosensors for urea detection, using several conjugated polymers as a matrix. The polymers to be used in this work are of the class poly-p-phenylene (PPP), poly (p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV), polyfluorene and polythiophene. These materials will be synthesized and characterized to prove their structure (infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)) and to understand their characteristics (visible ultraviolet (UV-Vis), fluorescence, thermogravimetry). The films will be formed by spin coating and adjust to the conditions and prepare the films such as speed, rotation time and volume, as well as the number of variations that will be applied. The project also calculates the Michaelis-Menten constant (KM) as well as the capacity of the enzymatic analysis for each polymer. The results will be compared with each other and with what already exists in the literature.