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Three-dimensional porous Cu@Cu2O aerogels for direct voltammetric sensing of glucose

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Abstract

Three-dimensional Cu@Cu2O aerogels with excellent electrocatalytic activity were prepared and used as electrode matrix for constructing novel electrochemical glucose sensors. The aerogels were obtained by adding a fresh solution of NaBH4 into a mixture of CuCl2 and NaOH aqueous solutions under stirring at room temperature. The aerogels were assembled with Cu or Cu2O nanoparticles. The materials show superfine spongy-like structures with large surface-to-volume ratio, numerous active sites and good solubility. The Cu@Cu2O aerogels show highly efficient electrochemical activity toward glucose oxidation with a relatively low-onset potential (0.25 V) in 0.1 M NaOH solution. This non-enzymatic glucose sensor offers a low detection limit of 0.6 μM (S/N = 3), a high sensitivity (195 mA M−1 cm−2), and two wide linear ranges (0.001–5.2 mM, 5.2–17.1 mM) at a working voltage of 0.6 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in alkaline solution. While in neutral pH values, the respective data are a linear analytical range from 0.1 to 10 mM; a detection limit of 54 μM (S/N = 3) and a sensitivity of 12 mA M−1 cm−2 at scan rate of 100 mV s−1. The sensor possesses high selectivity, good reproducibility and long-time stability. It was utilized to determine glucose levels in (spiked) human serum samples, and satisfactory results were obtained.

Schematic presentation of a glassy carbon electrode modified with 3D porous Cu@Cu2O aerogels. The aerogels were obtained by a reduction reaction at room temperature (Scheme 1A). The aerogel networks were used to develop a highly sensitive electrochemical sensing platform for the detection of glucose (Scheme 1B).

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Scheme 1
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Acknowledgments

The funding of this work was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 31371806 and 21575125). In addition, much thanks to The Testing Center of Yangzhou University due to all the characterizations.

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Author notes

  1. Yajun Gao and Feiyu Yang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Food Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 225127, People’s Republic of China

    Yajun Gao, Feiyu Yang, Qianhui Yu, Rui Fan, Ming Yang, Shengqi Rao & Zhenquan Yang

  2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 225002, People’s Republic of China

    Yajun Gao, Qingchun Lan & Zhanjun Yang

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  1. Yajun Gao
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  2. Feiyu Yang
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Correspondence to Zhenquan Yang.

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Highlights

• The Cu@Cu2O aerogels were obtained with a one-step reduction method.

• The aerogel were firstly prepared to construct electrochemical glucose sensor.

• The electrochemical glucose sensor showed a wide linear range, a low detection limit and a high sensitivity in alkaline detection condition.

• This research provided a promising platform for sensing applications.

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Gao, Y., Yang, F., Yu, Q. et al. Three-dimensional porous Cu@Cu2O aerogels for direct voltammetric sensing of glucose. Microchim Acta 186, 192 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-019-3263-6

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