Royal Society of Chemistry, Journal of Materials Chemistry A: materials for energy and sustainability, 38(2), p. 15752-15757
DOI: 10.1039/c4ta03679d
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In this work, we have demonstrated the fabrication of a Co3O4 NP-coated TiO¬2 NWs with enzyme surface functionalization, which represents an artificial metabolism-inspired photoelectrochemical biomolecule probing design. Driven by the solar energy, the oxidative species formed on the Co3O4-TiO2 photoanode serve as a charge shuttle between the photo-excited electrode surface and the redox enzyme that mimics a simple metabolism process, during which the enzyme can effectively function with high efficiency, thus leading to excellent sensitivity for metabolically-important biomolecules. As proofs of concept, the successful probing of the ATP or cholesterol levels has been achieved using this Co3O4-TiO2-enzyme platform, with the capability of measurement in serum samples or from cell extracts.