IMMOBILIZATION OF GLUCOSE-OXIDASE WITH THE BLEND OF REGENERATED SILK FIBROIN AND POLY(VINYL ALCOHOL) AND ITS APPLICATION TO A 1,1'-DIMETHYLFERROCENE-MEDIATING GLUCOSE SENSOR

The structure and properties of the blend of regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were investigated. The two polymer s in the blend are in the state of phase segregation. Infrared (LR) sp ectra indicate that the RSF in the blend maintains its intrinsic prope rties, thus, ethanol treatment can transfer silk I structure of RSF to silk II structure. The water absorption property and mechanical prope rty of the blend are improved in comparison with those of RSF. The ble nd maintains the major merit of RSF, that is, it can immobilize glucos e oxidase on the basis of the conformational transition from silk I st ructure to silk II structure. The properties of the immobilized enzyme are examined. Moreover, the second generation of glucose sensor based on the immobilized enzyme is fabricated and it has a variety of advan tages including easy maintenance of enzyme, simplicity of construction , fast response time and high stability.