NiO-Coated CuCo2O4 Nanoneedle Arrays on Carbon Cloth for Nonenzymatic Glucose Sensing

Transition-metal oxide nanocomposites with a core-shell structure exhibit excellent catalytic performance because of their large surface area and the synergetic effect resulting from their special structures. In this work, a two-step hydrothermal method was used to synthesize hierarchical CuCo2O4/NiO core-shell nanoneedle arrays (NNAs) on conductive carbon cloth (CC) as a self-supported electrode. The morphology and structure of CuCo2O4/NiO NNAs/CC were studied in detail by various microscopes and spectroscopes. The synthesized CuCo2O4/NiO NNAs exhibited excellent electrocatalytic properties toward glucose oxidation due to the hierarchical core-shell structure and the resulting synergetic effect. Therefore, CuCo2O4/NiO NNAs/CC showed excellent characteristics for glucose determination with high sensitivity (4140 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2)), broad linear range (0.5-6000 mu M), and outstanding selectivity and stability. Moreover, the proposed sensor was evaluated to determine glucose in human serum samples with satisfactory recovery, indicating its potential practical application in quantitative analysis of blood glucose levels.

Automated summary

Transition-metal oxide nanocomposites with a core-shell structure showed excellent catalytic performance due to their large surface area and synergetic effect. The CuCo2O4/NiO core-shell nanoneedle arrays exhibited outstanding electrocatalytic properties for glucose oxidation, making them suitable for glucose determination with high sensitivity and great selectivity and stability. The sensor also showed satisfactory recovery when applied to determine glucose in human serum samples, indicating its potential practical application in quantitative analysis of blood glucose levels.