Synthesis of Cu-Co bimetallic nanoparticles using TiN-coated electrodes for glucose-sensing applications

This study focuses on the synthesis of Cu-Co bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) by electrodeposition on conductive TiN-coated electrodes for nonenzymatic glucose-sensing applications. By changing the (Cu/Co)(sol). ratio in electrolytes, the atomic concentrations and particle sizes of the Cu-Co NPs over the TiN-coated substrates were tailored. It was easier to incorporate Cu (which exhibits a higher reduction potential) into the NPs than Co. The bimetallic features of Cu-Co NPs were verified by investigating the energy-dispersive spectroscopy/field-emission scanning electron microscopy and field-emission transmission electron microscopy high-resolution images with the corresponding fast Fourier transform patterns. Even a small amount of bimetallic Cu-Co NPs greatly enhanced the detection sensitivity of glucose because of both the synergistic and nanosize effects. At a [Cu/(Cu+Co)](sol). concentration ratio of 0.5, the glucose sensitivity of the obtained Cu-Co NPs with particle sizes of 50 +/- 14 nm reached 1602 +/- 92 mu A cm(-2) mM(-1), which is much higher than that of the monometallic Cu or Co NPs and lies in the medium-high regime of reported values from the literature. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.