Anju Chadha

We report fabrication of potentiometric biosensors with silicon for the estimation of triglycerides and urea based on enzymatic reactions. The sensor is an Electrolyte-Insulator-Semiconductor capacitor (EISCAP) that shows a shift in the measured CV with changes in the pH of the electrolyte. Enzyme mediated biological reactions involve changes in the pH of the electrolyte and an EISCAP can be effectively used for detection of biological compounds. Optimization of the conditions for the enzymatic reaction and calibration of the sensor are included. Effect of replacing silicon with porous silicon is discussed.

A novel, enzymatic, porous silicon (PS) based potentiometric method for estimating triglycerides is reported. Lipase, an enzyme, which hydrolyses triglycerides was immobilised on PS which was prepared from p-type (1 0 0) crystalline silicon and was thermally oxidized. On hydrolysis the triglycerides result in the formation of fatty acids which causes a change in the pH of the solution. Enzyme solution-oxidized PS-crystalline silicon structure was used to detect changes in pH during the hydrolysis of tributyrin as a shift in the capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics. Optimisation of the conditions for the enzymatic reaction and calibration of the sensor are included. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

We report fabrication of a potentiometric biosensor on silicon for the estimation of tributyrin and urea based on enzymatic reactions. The sensor is an electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor capacitor (EISCAP) that shows a shift in the measured C-V with changes in the pH of the electrolyte. This pH shift can be induced by the enzyme-mediated hydrolysis of tributyrin and urea which results in acidic and basic solutions, respectively and an EISCAP can be effectively used for the detection of these bioanalytes. A silicon nitride based EISCAP was used for the first time to detect triglycerides and urea. The sensor was able to detect millimolar concentrations of the bioanalytes (tributyrin/urea). The most important features of the tributyrin and urea sensor are high sensitivity, long life-time, easily built at a low cost, micro-construction and short response time. Optimization of the conditions for the enzymatic reaction and calibration of the sensor are included. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.