Electrocatalytic efficacy of Ni-Cu@VC-72: Non-enzymatic electrochemical detection of glucose using Ni-Cu nanoparticles loaded on carbon black

Abstract

Ni-Cu bimetallic alloy nanoparticles supported on Vulcan carbon (VC) were proved to be the convenient and effective electrochemical glucose sensor owing to its high surface area and large active sites. The Ni-Cu bimetallic NPs loaded on VC were successfully prepared by the chemical reduction method. Morphology and structure of the prepared nanoparticles were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Elemental analysis of the prepared nanoparticles was carried by using Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. It was observed that glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with Ni-Cu@VC showed high electro-catalytic activity toward the oxidation of glucose. The electrochemical characterization was done by using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and amperometry. Effects of endogenous interfering species (ascorbic acid, uric acid, acetaminophen, and NaCl) on the electrocatalytic response of Ni-Cu@VC/GCE were also studied, which showed that Ni-Cu@VC NPs are selective electrocatalyst towards glucose oxidation. The Ni-Cu@VC/GCE showed high stability, reproducibility and high sensitivity (1515 μA mM−1 cm−1) towards glucose oxidation. The limit of detection (LOD) was calculated to be 4 μM while the limit of quantification (LOQ) was found to be 14 μM, respectively.