Highly-dispersed iron element decorated nickel foam synthesized by an acid-free and one-pot method for enzyme-free glucose sensor

Abstract

The highly-dispersed iron element decorated Ni foam was prepared by simple immersion in a ferric nitrate solution at room temperature without using acid etching, and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDAX spectrum (EDAX mapping) and Raman spectroscopy. The EDAX spectrum illustrated that iron element was highly-dispersed over the entire surface of nickel foam, and the Raman spectroscopy revealed that both Ni-O and Fe-O bonds were formed on the surface of the as-prepared electrode. Moreover, the iron element decorated Ni foam electrode can be used as non-enzymatic glucose sensor and it exhibits not only an ultra-wide linear concentration range of 1–18 mmol/L with an outstanding sensitivity of 1.0388 mA·mmol/(L·cm2), but also an excellent ability of stability and selectivity. Therefore, this work presents a simple yet effective approach to successfully modify Ni foam as non-enzymatic glucose sensor.