Electrochemical Cycling-Induced Spiky Cu_xO/Cu Nanowire Array for Glucose Sensing

Abstract

The glucose level is an important biological indicator for diabetes diagnosis. In contrast with costly and unstable enzymatic glucose sensing, oxide-based glucose sensors own the advantages of low fabrication cost, outstanding catalytic ability, and high chemical stability. Here, we fabricate a self-supporting spiky Cu x O/Cu nanowire array structure by electrochemical cycling treatment. The spiky Cu x O/Cu nanowire is identified to be a Cu core passivated by a conformal Cu 2 O layer with extruded CuO petals, which provides abundant active sites for electrocatalytic reaction in glucose detection. An interruptive potential sweeping experiment is presented to elucidate the growth mechanism of the spiky Cu x O/Cu nanostructure during the potential cycling treatment. The spiky Cu x O/Cu nanowire array electrode exhibits a sensitivity of 1210 ± 124 μA·mM –1 ·cm –2 , a wide linear detection range of 0.01–7 mM, and a short response time (<1 s) for amperometric glucose sensing. The study demonstrates a route to modulate oxide phase, crystal morphology, and electrocatalytic properties of metal/oxide core–shell nanostructures.

Recent Advances in Non-Enzymatic Glucose Sensors Based on Metal and Metal Oxide Nanostructures for Diabetes Management- A Review

“…These materials are easily, quickly, abundantly, and cheaply available in nature and are eco-friendly ( Vennila et al, 2017 ). They also show enhanced catalytic activity ( Fan et al, 2019 ). Moreover, sensors with two or more of these metals in combination also display excellent sensing results.…”

Nanostructured Anodic Copper Oxides as Catalysts in Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Reactions

“…Such samples provide better adhesion of the oxide to the substrate surface, however large-scale, reproducible synthesis of uniform material remained challenging. Finally, electrochemical oxidation (anodization, cyclic voltammetry polarization [148], etc.) was used as a method of direct fabrication of the copper oxide layer on the copper surface as a strategy for highly sensitive and stable glucose sensor development.…”

“…It showed good selectivity towards glucose in presence of other commonly interfering analytes, such as ascorbic acid, acetaminophen, dopamine, uric acid, urea, creatinine, sodium chloride, and carbohydrates (fructose, maltose, galactose, and lactose) at their physiological concentrations. Interesting approach was reported by Fan et al [148] as they used cyclic voltammetry to oxidized Cu nanowire array, prepared by electrodeposition of copper in the pores of anodic aluminum oxide membrane. As a result, Cu nanowires were covered with Cu x O spikes, which significantly increased the active surface area of the electrode.…”

Synthesis of an ordered nanoporous Cu/Ni/Au film for sensitive non-enzymatic glucose sensing

“…Table 1 shows the performance comparison of the previously reported glucose sensors prepared using Cu-and Ni-based nanomaterials. [36][37][38][39][40][41][42] The porous Cu/Ni/Au lm electrode clearly reports a high sensitivity, a low detection limit, and a wide linear range.…”