Yuan Alfinsyah Sihombing, Uperianti, Dhewa Edikresnha, Isa Anshori, Dian Ahmad Hapidin, Khairurrijal Khairurrijal
Screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) have rapidly advanced as biosensors due to their ease of production, reproducibility, and fast response enabled by screen-printing technology. This study presents the development of a sustainable carbon paste (CP) formulation using natural materials—activated carbon (AC), virgin coconut oil (VCO), and beeswax (BW)—for fabricating a working electrode in SPCEs on fabric substrates via a stencil method. The optimal carbon paste composition, ensuring good structural integrity, consisted of 40–60 wt% AC with a 1:1 ratio of VCO and BW as binders. The addition of BW significantly reduced electrical resistivity at concentrations of 20–40 wt%, highlighting the paste's improved electrical properties. Fabrication of SPCEs on fabric substrates (CP/Fabric) showed that carbon paste formulations with 40, 45, and 50 wt% AC adhered well, whereas formulations with 55–60 wt% AC or without BW exhibited poor adhesion. A minimum BW concentration of 25 wt% was essential for optimal adhesion and structure. The CP/Fabric electrodes demonstrated good chemical stability, maintaining an intact surface structure after immersion in KCl, PBS, and distilled water, with 40 wt% AC formulations showing the best performance. As a biosensor for uric acid (UA) detection, CP/Fabric-based SPCEs achieved a sensitivity of 18.977 μA/mM with high linearity (R2 = 0.997), a broad linear range of 10–1000 μM, and a low detection limit of 4.38 μM. Additionally, the electrodes demonstrated good reproducibility, with no significant differences observed in statistical analysis (one-way ANOVA), and maintained stable performance over 30 repeated measurements. These results establish CP/Fabric-based SPCEs as reliable, sustainable, and effective for biosensor applications. © 2025
Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia; Department of Nanotechnology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia; Bioscience and Biotechnology Research Center, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia; Lab-on-Chip Group, Biomedical Engineering Department, School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia; Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Jalan Terusan Ryacudu, Lampung, 35365, Indonesia; Center for Green and Sustainable Materials, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Jalan Terusan Ryacudu, Lampung, 35365, Indonesia