Liquid crystal-based proton sensitive glucose biosensor

A transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grid filled with 4-cyno-4-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) on the octadecyltrichloro silane-coated glass in an aqueous medium was developed to construct a glucose biosensor by coating poly(acrylicacid-b-4-cynobiphenyl-4-oxyundecylacrylate) (PAA-b-LCP) at the aqueous/5CB interface and immobilizing glucose oxidase (GOx) covalently to the PAA chains. The glucose was detected from a homeotropic to planar orientational transition of 5CB by polarized optical microscopy under crossed polarizers. The maximum immobilization density of the GOx, 1.3 molecules/nm² obtained in this TEM grid cell enabled the detection of glucose at concentrations as low as 0.02 mM with a response time of 10 s. This liquid crystal-based glucose sensor provided a linear response of birefringence of the 5CB to glucose concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 2 mM with a Michaelis-Menten constant (K_m) of 0.32 mM. This new and sensitive glucose biosensor has the merits of low production cost and easy detection through the naked eye and might be useful for prescreening the glucose level in the human body.