Electrochemical functionalization of polypyrrole through amine oxidation of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers: Application to DNA biosensor.

Electrochemical patterning method has been developed to fabricate composite based on polypyrrole (PPy) film and poly(amidoamine) dendrimers of fourth generation (PAMAM G4). PPy layer was generated using electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole on a gold electrode. PPy film was then modified with PAMAM G4 using amines electro-oxidation method. Covalent bonding of PAMAM G4 and the formation of PPy-PAMAM composite was characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Ferrocenyl groups were then attached to such surface as a redox marker. Electrochemical properties of the modified nanomaterial (PPy-PAMAM-Fc) were studied using both amperometric and impedimetric methods to demonstrate the efficiency of electron transfer through the modified PPy layer. The obtained electrical and electrochemical properties were compared to a composite where PPy bearing carboxylic acid functions was chemically modified with PAMAM G4 by covalent attachment through formation of amid bond (PPy-CONH-PAMAM). The above mentioned studies showed that electrochemical patterning does not disturb the electronic properties of PPy. The effect of the number of functional groups introduced by the electrochemical patterning was demonstrated through the association of various compounds (ethylenediamine, PAMAM G2 and PAMAM G6). We demonstrated that such compounds could be applied in the biosensors technology. The modified PPy-PAMAM-Fc was evaluated as a platform for DNA sensing. High performance in the DNA detection by variation of the electrochemical signal of ferrocene was obtained with detection limit of 0.4 fM. Furthermore, such approach of electrochemical patterning by oxidation of amines could be applied for chemical modification of PPy and open a new way in various biosensing application involving functionalized PPy.