GLUCOSE MICROBIOSENSOR UTILIZING SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY

THE GOAL OF THE PHASE I RESEARCH IS TO UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SURFACE NANOSTRUCTURE OF A MODEL AMPEROMTERIC BIOSENSOR AND ITS ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES. THE MODEL SYSTEM CHOSEN FOR THIS RESEARCH IS THE GLUCOSE-OXIDASE/GLUCOSE COUPLE. THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WITH VARIOUS IMMOBILIZATION MATRICES AND SUBSTRATES WILL BE STUDIED IN SITU WITH SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY. THE TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND ELECTROCHEMICAL PERFORMANCE OF THE SENSORS (SELECTIVITY, SENSITIVITY, REPRODUCIBILITY, AND STABILITY) WILL BE COMPARED, IN SITU, UTILIZING THE STM. A NOVEL MODIFIED STM-ELECTROCHEMISTRY (STM-EC) SYSTEM WILL BE USED AS A MULTIFUNCTIONAL CENTER. THE SYSTEM WILL BE UTILIZED TO DESIGN THE INTERFACE, CHARACTERIZE THE BIOSENSOR AND MONITOR THE ELECTROCHEMICAL ACTIVITIES OF THE BIOANALYTES. OPTIMIZATION OF THE MODEL MEMBRANE BARRIER ENZYME ELECTRODE STRUCTURE WILL LEAD TO MICROFABRICATION OF A BIOSENSOR UTILIZING THE STM TIP. PHASE II GOALS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL BE TO EXTEND THE INFORMATION ON THE GLUCOSE OXIDASE/GLUCOSE SYSTEM TO OTHER BIOANALYTES AND TO DESIGN AND MICROFABRICATE A MULTIFUNCTIONAL BIOSENSOR.