Fabrication of a thermal responsive hemoglobin (Hb) biosensor via Hb-catalyzed eATRP on the surface of ZnO nanoflowers

Abstract A new kind of thermal responsive protein imprinted polymers (TPIPs) was prepared for the electrochemical biosensor. The TPIPs were synthesized on the surface of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoflowers via electrochemically mediated atom transfer radical polymerization (eATRP), with bovine hemoglobin (Hb) as both catalyst and template. N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAM) and methacrylic acid (MAA) were used as temperature sensitive and assistant functional monomer, respectively. The biosensor fabricated by TPIPs and ZnO was successfully used for detecting Hb by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Under suitable conditions, the detection range of Hb was from 1.0 × 10−13 to 1.0 × 10−1 mg·L−1 with a low detection limit of 3.1 × 10−14 mg·L−1 (S/N = 3). This biosensor was used for detecting bovine hemoglobin in real samples with the recoveries of 95–105%. The good temperature response, good selectivity and repeatability allowed the TPIPs to be a great importance for the polymer-modified electrodes and the sensitive detection of Hb.