Biosensor for determination of hydrogen peroxide based on Yucca filamentosa membrane

Abstract

A simple and low-cost hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) biosensor has been developed using a Yucca filamentosa plant leaf membrane in conjunction with an oxygen (O₂) sensor. The leaf membrane contains hydrogen peroxidase which can catalytically decompose H₂O₂ to produce O₂. The response rate was faster for a Yucca membrane (t₉₀ response time is ≈14 s) than a Yucca membrane with the O₂-permeable membrane (t₉₀ response time is ≈200 s) and the sensitivity was much improved. The biosensor exhibited an excellent linear calibration range from 85 μM to 3.75 mM H₂O₂ (correlation coefficient r = 0.9999) with a detection limit of 15.1 μM; repeatability (1.024%, n = 10). The effects of pH and temperature on the response of the H₂O₂ biosensor have been studied in detail. The working life-time of the biosensor was good as it retains 86.7% of its initial sensitivity at 25 °C even after 2350 determinations of H₂O₂ sample solutions. It has been successfully applied to the determination of H₂O₂ concentration in some commercial samples.