Inhibitive Determination of Heavy Metal Ions by Conductometric Nitrate Reductase Biosensor

A conductometric nitrate biosensor based on methyl viologen/Nafion/nitrate reductase（NR） interdigitated electrode for heavy metal determination was proposed.The activity of NR（EC 1.6.6.2） from Asper gillusniger（A.niger） was assayed as a function of metal concentration in the presence of Cu^2＋,Zn^2＋,Cd^2＋ and Pb^2＋.Parameters influencing the performance of the biosensor were optimized for the application of it in the inhibition determination of heavy metal ions.Detection limits for Cu^2＋,Zn^2＋,Cd^2＋ and Pb^2＋ were about 0.05,0.5,0.1 and 1.0 μmol/L,respectively.The results show that NR activity could not be regained after exposure to Cu^2＋,but could be partially recovered after exposure to Zn^2＋,Pb^2＋ and Cd^2＋.