Field-controlled electron transfer and reaction kinetics of the biological catalytic system of microperoxidase-11 and hydrogen peroxide

Controlled reaction kinetics of the bio-catalytic system of microperoxidase-11 and hydrogen peroxide has been achieved using an electrostatic technique. The technique allowed independent control of 1) the thermodynamics of the system using electrochemical setup and 2) the quantum mechanical tunneling at the interface between microperoxidase-11 and the working electrode by applying a gating voltage to the electrode. The cathodic currents of electrodes immobilized with microperoxidase-11 showed a dependence on the gating voltage in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, indicating a controllable reduction reaction. The measured kinetic parameters of the bio-catalytic reduction showed nonlinear dependences on the gating voltage as the result of modified interfacial electron tunnel due to the field induced at the microperoxidase-11-electrode interface. Our results indicate that the kinetics of the reduction of hydrogen peroxide can be controlled by a gating voltage and illustrate the operation of a field-effect bio-catalytic transistor, whose current-generating mechanism is the conversion of hydrogen peroxide to water with the current being controlled by the gating voltage.