A novel non-enzymatic amperometric glucose sensor based on a hollow Pt-Ni alloy nanotube array electrode with enhanced sensitivity

A non-enzymatic electrode is proposed as a glucose sensor based on Pt-replaced Ni nanowires which are prepared by constant current electro-deposition within the anodic alumina membrane and galvanic replacement reaction. The amperometric detection of glucose shows a wide linear range up to 13.5 mM with a high sensitivity of 124.17 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2) and a low detection limit of 32 mu M (S/N = 3). More important, another attractive feature of the Pt-Ni NATs electrode is the quite low working potential at -0.35 V (versus SCE), which is favorable to avoid the influence of possible intermediates. Furthermore, the non-enzymatic glucose sensors reveal good stability and repeatability. All these excellent properties of the Pt-Ni NATs electrodes can be attributed to the large active area supported by the unique nanotube array structure.