The development of an efficient test-bed for biosensors requires stable surfaces, capable of interacting with the functional groups present in bioentities. This work demonstrates the formation of highly stable electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ERGO) thin films reproducibly on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass substrates using a reliable technique through 60 s chronoamperometric reduction of a colloidal suspension maintained at neutral pH containing graphene oxide in deionized water. Structural optimization and biocompatible interactions of the resulting closely packed and uniformly distributed ERGO flakes on ITO surfaces (ERGO/ITO) are characterized using various microscopic and spectroscopic tools. Lipase enzyme is immobilized on the ERGO surface in the presence of ethyl-3-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]carbodimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide for the detection of triglyceride in a tributyrin (TBN) solution. The ERGO/ITO surfaces prepared using the current technique indicate the noticeable detection of TBN, a source of triglycerides, at a sensitivity of 37 pA mg dL(-1) cm(-2) in the linear range from 50 to 300 mg dL(-1) with a response time of 12 s. The low apparent Michaelies-Menten constant of 0.28 mM suggests high enzyme affinity to TBN. The currently developed fast, simple, highly reproducible, and reliable technique for the formation of an ERGO electrode could be routinely utilized as a test bed for the detection of clinically active bioentities.
Keywords: ERGO electrode optimization; biosensing test-bed; electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ERGO); lipase; tributyrin; trigliceride detection.