Controllable morphology engineering of Cu2O nanoparticles for non-enzymatic glucose sensing

The controllable morphology engineering of active electrode materials is an effective strategy to obtain high performance non-enzymatic glucose sensing. Herein, different morphologic cuprous oxide (Cu2O nanospheres, nanocubes and microcubes) were controllably prepared by wet-chemistry precipitation technique through adjusting the OH- concentration. The growth and evolution mechanism of Cu2O at different OH- concentrations were extensively studied. Electrochemical testing revealed that Cu2O nanospheres had the highest sensitivity of 1438 & mu;A mM-1 cm-2 and the lowest detection limit of 0.17 & mu;M (S/N = 3), making them the best choice for glucose sensing. Additionally, the glucose detection range spanned two orders of concentration magnitude (0.5 & mu;M - 1.332 mM and 1.332 mM - 3.832 mM), and the sensor displayed excellent anti-interference ability, reproducibility, and long-term stability. The electrode material also performed well in detecting glucose in real serum samples, indicating its practical applicability as a non-enzymatic sensor.