Fatigue Test of Cytochrome C Self-Assembled on a 11-MUA Layer Based on Electrochemical Analysis for Bioelectronic Device

A cytochrome c/11-MUA heterolayer was fabricated to analyze its electrochemical characteristics in harsh conditions for a stable bioelectronic device. Since a cytochrome c/11-MUA heterolayer has been applied to construct the bioelectronics device such as non-volatile biomemory device, an understanding of electrochemical property of the heterolayer in harsh conditions such as variation of temperature and pH, and repetition of usage is necessary to manufacture a stable platform of bioelectronic device. Cytochrome c, a metalloprotein to have a heme group, was self-assembled on the Au surface via the chemical linker 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (11-MUA). Immobilization of the heterolayer was confirmed by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The fatigue test was done by investigating the redox properties based on cyclic voltammetry (CV) of the heterolayer. The retention time test and pH dependence, thermal test of the fabricated heterolayer were conducted by CV, which showed that the fabricated film retained redox properties for more than 33 days, and from pH 5.0 to pH 9.0, from 15 °C to 55 °C. Taken together, our results show that a cytochrome c/11-MUA heterolayer is very stable, which could be used as a platform of bioelectronic device.