Efficient Electrocatalyst for Glucose and Ethanol Based on Cu/Ni/N-Doped Graphene Hybrids

Copper/nickel nanoparticle-decorated N-doped graphene (Cu/Ni/N-graphene) hybrids were prepared by using a solvothermal method, and further employed as a sensing material for fabricating a sensitive non-enzymatic glucose and ethanol sensor. Compared with Cu, Cu/N-graphene, Ni, Ni/N-graphene, Cu-50/Ni-50 nanoparticles, and Cu-51/Ni-49/graphene, the Cu-52/Ni-48/Ngraphene showed enhanced electrochemical activity to glucose and ethanol oxidation, owing to the synergetic effects of Cu and Ni together with N-graphene sheets in the hybrids. The results showed that the Cu-52/Ni-48/N-graphene hybrid-modified electrode exhibited excellent performance for glucose detection with a wider linear range (from 0.5 mu M to 4.6 mM), lower limit of detection (0.2 mu M, S/N=3), and higher sensitivity (1847.56 mu A mM(-1)cm(-2)) than other modified electrodes. Furthermore, the presented non-enzymatic sensor also displayed a good response toward ethanol oxidation with a wide linear range from 0.2 to 37.1 mM, lower detection limit of 0.1 mM (S/N=3), and faster response time (5 s). These results indicated that the excellent properties could promote the potential application of the bimetals and N-graphene sheets as enhanced materials in constructing non-enzymatic sensors for electrochemical analysis.