Bioelectrochemical dehalogenations via direct electrochemistry of poly(ethylene oxide)-modified myoglobin

Catalytic reductive dehalogenation of hexachloroethane (HCE) was shown to b e possible using a graphite electrode coated with a film of the poly(ester sulfonic acid) containing myoglobin (Mb). The effectiveness of the dehaloge nation was limited by the solubility of HCE in aqueous solutions. In order to produce an electrode that could dehalogenate HCE in non-aqueous solution s, Mb was chemically modified by addition of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). Th e PEO-Mb-AQ29D modified electrode was found to be suitable for the reductiv e dehalogenation of HCE in ethanolic solutions. The catalytic response was shown to be linearly dependent on the bulk concentration of HCE. (C) 1999 E lsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.