Electrically conducting organic polymers are a new class of low-cost lightweight conducting materials that have a large number of important practical applications. These polymers are of particular interest as a means of fabricating enzyme-based electrochemical biosensors that have unique capabilities. However, several aspects of the electrochemical methods presently used for the formation of these polymers as thin films at electrode surfaces impose severe restrictions for their use in enzyme electrodes. A radically new method for forming conducting polymers, such as polypyrrole, has been developed. This method is highly suited to the fabrication of enzyme electrodes. New methods for transducing the reaction of an oxidoreductase enzyme into an electrical signal will arise from this approach. A feasibility study will be performed using xanthine oxidase and L-amino acid oxidase to determine if it can be immobilized into conducting polymer films formed by the non-electrical process. The activity of the enzymes toward their substrates will be examined. This new method will form the basis for the formation of enzyme electrodes using a flexible photodeposition technique, and can be used for the production of conducting polymers on a large scale.
