Materials 2014, 7(2), 1055-1068; doi:10.3390/ma7021055
Detection of Waterborne and Airborne Formaldehyde: From Amperometric Chemosensing to a Visual Biosensor Based on Alcohol Oxidase
1
Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
2
The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
3
Department of Analytical Biotechnology, Institute of Cell Biology, Drahomanov Street 14/16, Lviv 79005, Ukraine
4
Lviv Polytechnic National University, S. Bandery Street 12, Lviv 79000, Ukraine
5
Institute of Applied Biotechnology and Basic Sciences, University of Rzeszow, Sokolowska Street 26, Kolbuszowa 36-100, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 29 November 2013 / Revised: 17 December 2013 / Accepted: 8 January 2014 / Published: 11 February 2014
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Materials and Proteins for Bio-Sensing Applications)
Abstract
A laboratory prototype of a microcomputer-based analyzer was developed for quantitative determination of formaldehyde in liquid samples, based on catalytic chemosensing elements. It was shown that selectivity for the target analyte could be increased by modulating the working electrode potential. Analytical parameters of three variants of the amperometric analyzer that differed in the chemical structure/configuration of the working electrode were studied. The constructed analyzer was tested on wastewater solutions that contained formaldehyde. A simple low-cost biosensor was developed for semi-quantitative detection of airborne formaldehyde in concentrations exceeding the threshold level. This biosensor is based on a change in the color of a solution that contains a mixture of alcohol oxidase from the yeast Hansenula polymorpha, horseradish peroxidase and a chromogen, following exposure to airborne formaldehyde. The solution is enclosed within a membrane device, which is permeable to formaldehyde vapors. The most efficient and sensitive biosensor for detecting formaldehyde was the one that contained alcohol oxidase with an activity of 1.2 U·mL−1. The biosensor requires no special instrumentation and enables rapid visual detection of airborne formaldehyde at concentrations, which are hazardous to human health. View Full-TextKeywords:
formaldehyde; microcomputer-based analyzer; chemosensing electrode; biosensor, alcohol oxidase; Hansenula polymorpha
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Sigawi, S.; Smutok, O.; Demkiv, O.; Gayda, G.; Vus, B.; Nitzan, Y.; Gonchar, M.; Nisnevitch, M. Detection of Waterborne and Airborne Formaldehyde: From Amperometric Chemosensing to a Visual Biosensor Based on Alcohol Oxidase. Materials 2014, 7, 1055-1068.
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