Multivariate evaluation of factors influencing the performance of a formicacid biosensor for use in air monitoring

A formic acid biosensor for air monitoring has been evaluated using chemome tric methods. Using experimental design eleven factors that could influence the performance of the biosensor were examined. The response matrices cons isted of six parameters (steady state currents at three different formic ac id concentrations and response rates during changes in formic acid concentr ations) describing the performance of the biosensor. The data were evaluate d using a combination of principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple li near regression (MLR). To confirm the conclusions from the PCA-MLR partial least squares (PLS) was also used. The most important factor for the biosen sor performance was found to be the enzyme concentration. Using the informa tion from the chemometric analyses the optimum operation conditions for the biosensor were determined. The steady state currents were increased by 18- 30% and the initial two response rates increased by 47-89% compared with a biosensor that had not been optimised.