Intense pulsed light induced platinum-gold alloy formation on carbon nanotubes for non-enzymatic glucose detection

We demonstrated a novel method for the formation of alloy nano-islands on carbon nanotube (CNT). The two metal layers (Pt, Au) were sputtered on CNTs and the intense pulsed light (IPL) was irradiated on the metal layers. The absorbed light provides enough energy for the diffusion mixing between Pt and Au, forming Pt-Au alloy phase. While the alloy is being formed by the IPL irradiation, the metal layers are broken into nano-islands on CNT due to the surface energy minimization between the metal layers and CNT. The surface characterizations of the Pt-Au/CNT were performed with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Different compositions of alloy nanoparticles were obtained by adjusting the deposition thicknesses of Pt and Au on CNT. Pt50Au50/CNT electrode showed the highest glucose oxidation current peak among Pt, Pt70Au30, Pt50Au50, Pt30Au70, and Au/CNT electrodes while the electroactive surface areas of them are kept to be similar (average surface area = 7.00 cm(2), coefficient of variation = 0.06). The amperometric response of Pt50Au50/CNT electrode to the glucose concentrations showed a wide linear range up to 24.44 mM with a high detection sensitivity of 10.71 mu AmM-1 cm(-2). Reproducibility and long-term stability of the Pt-Au/CNT electrode were also proven in the experiments. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.