Application of Some Room Temperature Ionic Liquids in the Development of Biosensors at Carbon Film Electrodes

Two room temperature ionic liquids, 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium bistriflimide and 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium nitrate, were employed for enzyme immobilization in a new sol‐gel matrix and, for the first time, were successfully applied as electrolyte carriers in a biosensing system. The new sol‐gel matrix, based on 3‐aminopropyltrimethoxysilane and 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium bistriflimide mixtures, did not crack even after several weeks when kept dry, and exhibited similar analytical properties to aqueous sol‐gel based glucose biosensors. The linear range was up to 1.1 mM of glucose, sensitivity was 62 nA mM^?1 and the limit of detection was 28.8 μM. The optimum ionic liquid electrolyte carrier was found to be 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium nitrate, where the biosensor was made by electrodeposition of the redox mediator, poly(neutral red), and the enzyme was immobilized by cross‐linking with glutaraldehyde. The results showed that application of room temperature ionic liquids to biosensors is very promising and can be further exploited.