NiCo layered double hydroxide nanosheet arrays constructed via in-situ plasma etching as non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor for glucose in food

Abstract

The design and construction of an efficient non-enzymatic glucose electrochemical sensor is of great significance for food quality assessment. Here, we have developed a method to fabricate highly efficient catalytic electrodes for glucose sensing in alkaline. This method utilizes microplasma assistance during the in-situ etching of NiCo layered double hydroxide nanosheet arrays on nickel foam (NiCo-LDH/NF). The NiCo-LDH nanosheets possessed uniform dispersion without agglomeration, high electrochemically active surface area, and excellent electron transfer efficiency (the electron transfer coefficient (α) up to 0.91, the catalytic rate constant (k) was 2.44 × 106 cm3 mol−1 s−1). The NiCo-LDH/NF-based non-enzymatic glucose sensor exhibits the broad linear range (0.4–150 μM), high sensitivity (98000 μA mM−1 cm−2), and the low detection limits (48.76 nM) with satisfactory reproducibility and selectivity. This work developed a simple and rapid in-situ approach for constructing non-enzymatic electrochemical sensors with high sensitivity.