Electrochemically Predicting Phenolic Substrates' Suitability for Detection by Amperometric Laccase Biosensors

In this article, a rapid, simple method of electrochemically predicting a given phenolic substrate's ability to be detected via amperometric laccase biosensors is proposed. Ten selected substrates were analysed by cyclic voltammetry and the relevant electrochemical parameters compared to biosensor kinetic parameters produced through amperometric detection of these substrates. The two major findings of this study were that biosensor detection sensitivities were found to correlate to: (1) peak oxidation potential of a substrate at unmodified electrodes and (2) the apparent MichaelisMenten constant, Km, of the biosensor-substrate system, once corrections accounting for the relative differences in electroreducible product yield are made.