Stable encapsulation of active enzyme by application of multilayer nanofilm coatings to alginate microspheres

In an effort to improve the stability for long-term biosensor use, layer-by-layer self-assembly was explored as a potential technique to provide a diffusion barrier to encapsulated glucose oxidase inside alginate microspheres (<5 microm), fabricated using an emulsification technique. The total loss of encapsulated enzyme was reduced to less than 25 and 15% with the application of single PAH/PSS and crosslinked PAH/PAA coatings, respectively, in comparison to at least a 45% loss observed with uncoated and PDDA/PSS-coated microspheres. Furthermore, it was found that enzyme within PAH/PSS- and crosslinked PAH/PAA-coated spheres retained more than 84 and 60% of initial activity, respectively, after three months, whereas uncoated and PDDA/PSS-coated microspheres retained less than 20%.