Enzymatic synthesis of water‐soluble conducting poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene): A simple enzyme immobilization strategy for recycling and reusing

Abstract

A new method for immobilizing horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in the enzymatic synthesis of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is reported. This method is based on 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene monomer droplets created due to its poor solubility in water and in the stabilization effect that these monomer droplets show on the enzyme activity. A biphasic catalytic system is created where the enzyme is encapsulated inside the monomer phase and the other components such as H2O2 oxidant and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulphonate) (PSS) template are in the aqueous phase. After reaction the remaining EDOT/HRP phase is easily recovered and reused several times showing highly reproducible conjugation lengths as well as electrical conductivity values of 2.10−3 S/cm. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at www.interscience.wiley.com.]