LAUSR

Abstract A new amperometric sensor has been fabricated for sensitive and rapid quantification of ethanol. The biosensor assembly was prepared by covalently immobilizing alcohol oxidase (AOX) from Pichia pastoris onto chemically modified surface of polyvinylchloride (PVC) beaker with glutaraldehyde as a coupling agent followed by immobilization of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), chitosan (CHIT), carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (c-MWCNTs) and nafion (Nf) nanocomposite onto the surface of Au electrode (working electrode). Owing to properties such as chemical inertness, light weight, weather resistance, corrosion resistance, toughness and cost-effectiveness, PVC membrane has attracted a growing interest as a support for enzyme immobilization in the development of biosensors. The amperometric biosensor displayed optimum response within 8 s at pH 7.5 and 35°C temperature. A linear response to alcohol in the range of 0.01mM–50 mM and 0.0001 µM as a minimum limit of detection was displayed by the proposed biosensor with excellent storage stability (190 days) at 4°C. The sensitivity of the sensor was found to be 155 µA mM−1 cm−2. A good correlation (R2 = 0.99) was found between alcohol level in commercial samples as evaluated by standard ethanol assay kit and the current biosensor which validates its performance.