NiCo2O4 nanoneedle-decorated electrospun carbon nanofiber nanohybrids for sensitive non-enzymatic glucose sensors

Abstract

Abstract Binary metal oxides, especially NiCo2O4, hold great promise as electrode materials for high-performance sensors because of their excellent electrical conductivity compared to mono-metal oxides. Herein, NiCo2O4 nanoneedle arrays on network electrospun carbon nanofibers membrance (NiCo2O4/ECF) is developed for non-enzymatic glucose biosensor. The NiCo2O4/ECF is synthesised via a facile one-pot hydrothermal process. The obtained NiCo2O4/ECF nanohybrids show unique three-dimensional architecture with good crystallinity, in which NiCo2O4 nanoneedles are uniformly grown on the ECF skeletons. Benefiting from the synergistic effects between well-dispersed NiCo2O4 nanoneedles and conductive ECF networks, the NiCo2O4/ECF hybrids present a wide linear range of 0.005–19.175 mM (R = 0.998), a low detection limit of 1.5 μM (S/N = 3), and a sensitivity of 1947.2 μA mM−1 cm−2 for glucose detection. The as-fabricated biosensor also exhibits long-term stability, high selectivity and good practicability. Furthermore, the sensor is also applied in real serum samples with satisfactory results. This study demonstrates that NiCo2O4/ECF is a unique material with promising potential in glucose sensing.