The STOCHELEC EU-funded project (MSCA-IF agreement #844746), proposes an innovative solution to preserve the activity of biological catalysts at electrified interfaces, introducing the development of a 4th generation of bioelectrochemical sensors. In classic electrochemical biosensors, enzymes immobilized on an electrode as a self- assembled monolayer (SAM) are exposed to a strong and static electrical field disturbing their active 3D structure and thus often preventing free enzymes’ dynamics that leads to a loss of enzyme activity. In order to increase the lifetime of these biologically structured interfaces, one must adjust the polarization profile to the actual dynamics of the system being used.
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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 844746 |
Stochastic (Greek στόχος (stókhos) 'aim, guess') is a property of a system being well described by a random probability distribution. Stochasticity refers to a modeling approach and randomness refers to the phenomena itself.
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Birth of an idea
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A lasting journey |
The range of enzymes’ time-scale dynamics extend from individual atomic vibrations to cumulative large domains motions, it reflect their complex catalytic mechanism. The dynamics of enzymes strongly depend on the electrolyte environment and on the strengh of the interfacial electrical field. Using insight in the dynamics governing the catalysis of enzymatic systems will allow for the development of personalized electrochemical stimulation of those systems.
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The fingerprint of the enzymes’ dynamics extends on a wide range of time-constants, from thermal entropic fluctuations to structural reorganisations allowing for the diffusion of substrate and products to the catalytic site. The Fourier transform analysis of chronoamperograms could therefore become an efficient analytical tool in assessing the synthetic reproducibility of bio- electrodes constructs.
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