Cuprous Oxide Films with Hollow Cubic Cage Structure for Nonenzymatic Glucose Detection

Abstract

In this study, CuO films with hollow cubic cages were prepared by a facile two-step procedure consisting of electrodeposition synthesis and subsequent direct calcination. First, Cu2O nanocubes were fabricated on ITO substrate through a simple electrodeposition procedure. Then, Cu2O nanocubes were converted to CuO hollow cubic cages without obvious morphological change through direct calcination. The obtained CuO cubic cages serving as active materials illustrated a favorable performance for nonenzymatic glucose sensing with high sensitivity of [Formula: see text]A[Formula: see text]mM[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text] at a low applied potential of 0.50[Formula: see text]V, fast-response time (less than 3[Formula: see text]s), low detection limit of 1.0[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M and wide linear range up from 2.0[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M to 1.0[Formula: see text]mM ([Formula: see text]). Moreover, the good selectivity of the CuO cubic cages-based nonenzymatic glucose sensor against electroactive compounds such as ascorbic acid, uric acid and dopamine were also demonstrated. These good features indicate that the as-prepared CuO cubic cages can be used as promising electrode materials, which have a great potential in the development of sensitive and selective nonenzymatic glucose sensors.