Monolithic copper selenide submicron particulat film/copper foam anode catalyst for ultrasensitive electrochemical glucose sensing in human blood serum

Herein, we introduce our recent finding that a copper selenide submicron particulate film supported on an underlying Cu foam (Cu2Se SPs/CF) via an in situ facile chemical vapor deposition process could be well utilized for glucose sensing. This monolithic electrode shows excellent catalytic activity toward glucose with an ultrahigh sensitivity (18 660 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2)), a low determination limit (LOD) of 0.25 mu M, a fast response time of 3 s and good selectivity, which is much superior to almost all reported Cu-based sensors. It also shows good reproducibility and feasibility in glucose detection in diluted human serum samples. This good performance could be attributed to the overall good catalytic activity of both the Cu2Se phase and Cu foam, the high surface area provided by the unique submicron particulate-formed Cu2Se film, and good conductivity of the integral Cu2Se SPs/CF.