Facile synthesis of monodisperse porous Cu2O nanospheres on reduced graphene oxide for non-enzymatic amperometric glucose sensing

In this work, well-defined monodisperse porous Cu2O nanospheres were facilely synthesized, using ionic liquid crystal 1-hexadecyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium bromide ([C(16)MMIm]Br) as a soft template. The as-prepared Cu2O nanospheres were successfully anchored on the reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (RGOs) by simple ultrasonication. The RGOs-Cu2O nanocomposites showed high electrocatalytic activity toward glucose oxidation. Thus, a non-enzymatic amperometric glucose sensor was constructed with a wide linear range from 0.01 to 6 mM, low detection limit of 0.05 mu M (S/N = 3), high selectivity (185 mu A mM(-1)), and fast response (within 3 s). This strategy opens a new facile and simple chemical route to prepare porous metal oxides supported on RGOs with novel properties. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.