Development of Cu2O-Cu-ZnO ternary nanocomposites for high-performance photoelectrochemical non-enzymatic glucose sensor

Abstract

The construction of ternary nanocomposites has shown promising prospects in photoelectrochemical (PEC) glucose sensing. In this work, cubic Cu2O-Cu-ZnO (CCZ) ternary nanocomposite was synthesized through a straightforward method. The CCZ/Nafion/GCE (glassy carbon electrode) electrode possessed excellent photo-response and was used for PEC glucose sensing. As the light intensity increased, the CCZ/Nafion/GCE electrode exhibited higher sensitivity (1.213 mA mM−1 cm−2), wider linear range (0–5 mM), shorter response time (3 s) and lower detection limit (2.10 μM). The anti-interference and stability tests proved the high stability of the CCZ-based glucose sensor. Further results confirmed that the glucose concentration detected by the CCZ-based glucose sensor was close to the results detected by a commercial sensor, indicating the application prospect of the CCZ-based PEC glucose sensor. This work provided a novel perspective for the development of ternary semiconductor-metal structure in PEC glucose sensing.