LAUSR

Abstract A simple approach towards Cholesterol (Ch) detection is investigated here exploiting non-enzymatic electrochemical detection route using poly (3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) with Taurine (TA) coated on the Screen Printed Electrode (SPE). The sulphonic acid in TA forms electrostatic interaction with polymer backbone chain, exhibiting excellent stability, high dispersity and large surface area of sensing matrix to have adsorption with Ch, which in turn improves its electrochemical performance. Scanning electron microscope studies and X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrated that the PEDOT nanopheres were successfully grafted on TA flakes. Further, the prepared PEDOT/TA composite has been investigated for the electrochemical detection of Ch using cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry techniques. As a result, the fabricated device shows a wider linear response in the 3 µM to 1 mM concentration range with the detection limit is as low as 0.95 µM (S/N = 3σ/b), which is several orders of magnitude below the clinical cut-off level of 5.17 mM. Moreover, the biosensor exhibited an acceptable reproducibility, good stability and selectivity. The analytical utility provides great promise by demonstrating selective measurement of Ch in egg yolk sample and proposed biosensor may be used for the fabrication of nonenzymatic and redox indicator free cholesterol sensors.