Development of an electrochemical nanoplatform for non-enzymatic glucose sensing based on Cu/ZnO nanocomposite

Abstract

A non-enzymatic amperometric glucose sensor was designed based on Zinc Oxide (ZnO) and copper (Cu) composite membrane. The Copper/Zinc Oxide nanocomposite (Cu/ZnO NC) was elaborated by sol-gel technique, which was then characterized for physico-chemical properties using characterization techniques such as UV–Visible, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis (EDXS). For the sensing electrode fabrication, the synthesized NC was deposited on Glassy Carbon Electrode (GCE) by drop-coating method. The electrochemical behavior of the elaborated sensor was studied through cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). The Cu/ZnO modified GCE possesses favorable electrocatalytic (EC) properties for the oxidation of glucose in alkaline solution. Furthermore, the suggested sensing nanoplatform for glucose determination had 2 linear ranges: 0.01 mM–1 mM and 1 mM–7 mM, good sensitivity (36.641 μA mM−1cm−2), a limit of detection (LOD) of about 57 μM, good selectivity as well as a response time of about 8 s. The findings of this study contribute to the applicability of a high-performance non-enzymatic glucose sensor and may potentially act as a significant alternative method for glucose analysis.