ABSTRACT
Electrode reactions of proteins and enzymes on bare electrodes usually do not take place at their formal potentials (reactions are irreversible). A new era of modern bioelectrochemistry began in 1977 with voltammetric studies of small protein molecules, and was pioneered by groups led by Kuwana [1], Hill [2], and Niki [3]. From these studies, it was found that modifications of electrode surfaces are imperative to facilitate the direct electrochemistry of biological molecules. The direct electrochemistry of biological molecules not only provides important thermodynamic and mechanistic information from biological reactions, but also allows one to develop “molecular wiring” (electrical communication) between electrochemically inactive biological molecules and electrodes for various advanced applications.
