Gold nanoparticles in bioelectrocatalysis – The role of nanoparticle size

In recent decades, considerable attention has been paid to the application of gold nanostructures and nanoparticles in various fields of chemistry. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are also employed to improve the performance of enzymatic electrodes in fuel cells and biosensor applications. This paper reviews the recent reports discussing the effect of AuNPs on the kinetics, and thermodynamics of bioelectrocatalytic reactions. The focus of this review is on the size of AuNPs and on the behavior of smallest gold nanoparticles – clusters, with diameters ranging from 2 nm to subnanometer size, since they are shown to influence the enzymatic reactions at electrodes – improving the performance or in some cases even changing the mechanism of the bioelectrocatalytic process.