Review—Advances on Oxidase Enzymes Modified Nanoporous Carbon and Gold Surfaces for Bioelectrochemical Applications

Abstract

Recently, continuous advances in the development of nanoporous surfaces and their modification with biomolecules, such as redox enzymes have made possible important biolectrochemical applications of these surfaces. New nanoporous surfaces have been designed with a very well controlled architecture that improves the properties of their flat counterparts, resulting in surfaces with a large specific surface area, high conductivity and better electrochemical activity, in particular with regard to increase specific surface area, conductivity and electrochemical activity. The challenge is to achieve suitable pore size, spatial arrangement and pore distribution to facilitate substrate transport and enzyme orientation. The objective is to obtain an ideal nanoporous surface that provides a large surface area, rapid mass transport of substrates and efficient immobilization of redox enzymes to obtain direct electron transfer (DET). Although the electron transfer between the redox centers of the enzyme and the electrode is achieved frequently in the presence of redox mediators, which is known as mediated electron transfer (MET). In this review the latest advances in gold and carbon nanoporous surfaces modified with oxidase enzymes in the development of enzymatic fuel cells or enzymatic biosensors are discussed.