Cuprous Oxide Films with Hollow Cubic Cage Structure for Nonenzymatic Glucose Detection

In this study, CuO films with hollow cubic cages were prepared by a facile two-step procedure consisting of electrodeposition synthesis and subsequent direct calcination. First, Cu2O nanocubes were fabricated on ITO substrate through a simple electrodeposition procedure. Then, Cu2O nanocubes were converted to CuO hollow cubic cages without obvious morphological change through direct calcination. The obtained CuO cubic cages serving as active materials illustrated a favorable performance for nonenzymatic glucose sensing with high sensitivity of 2117.44 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2) at a low applied potential of 0.50 V, fast-response time (less than 3 s), low detection limit of 1.0 mu M and wide linear range up from 2.0 mu M to 1.0 mu M (R-2 = 0.9983). Moreover, the good selectivity of the CuO cubic cages-based nonenzymatic glucose sensor against electroactive compounds such as ascorbic acid, uric acid and dopamine were also demonstrated. These good features indicate that the as-prepared CuO cubic cages can be used as promising electrode materials, which have a great potential in the development of sensitive and selective nonenzymatic glucose sensors.