Electrochemical Investigation of Glucose on a Highly Sensitive Nickel-Copper Modified Pencil Graphite Electrode

Green synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles using Ficus elastica extract for the electrochemical simultaneous detection of Cd2+, Pb2+, and Hg2

In this paper, for the first time, we report the use of a new carbon paste electrode based on a low-cost pencil graphite powder modified with polyaniline (PANI) and green synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles using Ficus elastica extract as a sensor for Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Hg²⁺. The elaborated electrode was characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, field-emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and simultaneous thermal analysis (TGA/DSC). The electrochemical behavior of the sensor was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. According to CV, as well as square wave voltammetry (SWV) results, it was found that the CuONPs/PANI-CPE sensor was able to determine very low concentrations of Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Hg²⁺ in HCl (0.01 M) either in single metal or in multi-metal solutions with a high sensitivity. Furthermore, Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Hg²⁺ simultaneous detection on CuONPs/PANI-CPE achieved very low limits of detection (0.11, 0.16, and 0.07 μg L^-1, respectively). Besides, the designed sensor displayed a good selectivity, reproducibility, and stability. Moreover, CuONPs/PANI-CPE enabled us to determine with high accuracy Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Hg²⁺ traces in environmental matrices.

A molecularly imprinted electrochemical biosensor based on hierarchical Ti2Nb10O29 (TNO) for glucose detection

A novel molecularly imprinted electrochemical biosensor for glucose detection is reported based on a hierarchical N-rich carbon conductive-coated TNO structure (TNO@NC). Firstly, TNO@NC was fabricated by a novel polypyrrole-chemical vapor deposition (PPy-CVD) method with minimal waste generation. Afterward, the electrode modification with TNO@NC was performed by dropping TNO@NC particles on glassy carbon electrode surfaces by infrared heat lamp. Finally, the glucose-imprinted electrochemical biosensor was developed in presence of 75.0 mM pyrrole and 25.0 mM glucose in a potential range from + 0.20 to + 1.20 V versus Ag/AgCl via cyclic voltammetry (CV). The physicochemical and electrochemical characterizations of the fabricated molecularly imprinted biosensor was conducted by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) method, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and CV techniques. The findings demonstrated that selective, sensitive, and stable electrochemical signals were proportional to different glucose concentrations, and the sensitivity of molecularly imprinted electrochemical biosensor for glucose detection was estimated to be 18.93 μA μM^-1 cm^-2 (R² = 0.99) at + 0.30 V with the limit of detection (LOD) of 1.0 × 10^-6 M. Hence, it can be speculated that the fabricated glucose-imprinted biosensor may be used in a multitude of areas, including public health and food quality.

Non-Enzymatic Detection of Glucose in Neutral Solution Using PBS-Treated Electrodeposited Copper-Nickel Electrodes

Transition metals have been explored extensively for non-enzymatic electrochemical detection of glucose. However, to enable glucose oxidation, the majority of reports require highly alkaline electrolytes which can be damaging to the sensors and hazardous to handle. In this work, we developed a non-enzymatic sensor for detection of glucose in near-neutral solution based on copper-nickel electrodes which are electrochemically modified in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Nickel and copper were deposited using chronopotentiometry, followed by a two-step annealing process in air (Step 1: at room temperature and Step 2: at 150 °C) and electrochemical stabilization in PBS. Morphology and chemical composition of the electrodes were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry was used to measure oxidation reaction of glucose in sodium sulfate (100 mM, pH 6.4). The PBS-Cu-Ni working electrodes enabled detection of glucose with a limit of detection (LOD) of 4.2 nM, a dynamic response from 5 nM to 20 mM, and sensitivity of 5.47 ± 0.45 μA cm-2/log10(mole.L-1) at an applied potential of 0.2 V. In addition to the ultralow LOD, the sensors are selective toward glucose in the presence of physiologically relevant concentrations of ascorbic acid and uric acid spiked in artificial saliva. The optimized PBS-Cu-Ni electrodes demonstrate better stability after seven days storage in ambient compared to the Cu-Ni electrodes without PBS treatment.

Non-Enzymatic Glucose Sensors Involving Copper: An Electrochemical Perspective

Non-enzymatic glucose sensors based on the use of copper and its oxides have emerged as promising candidates to replace enzymatic glucose sensors owing to their stability, ease of fabrication, and superior sensitivity. This review explains the theories of the mechanism of glucose oxidation on copper transition metal electrodes. It also presents an overview on the development of among the best non-enzymatic copper-based glucose sensors in the past 10 years. A brief description of methods, interesting findings, and important performance parameters are provided to inspire the reader and researcher to create new improvements in sensor design. Finally, several important considerations that pertain to the nano-structuring of the electrode surface is provided.

A Conformable, Gas-Permeable, and Transparent Skin-Like Micromesh Architecture for Glucose Monitoring

Monitoring the concentration of useful biomarkers via electronic skins (e-skins) is highly important for the development of wearable health management systems. While some biosensor e-skins with high flexibility, sensitivity, and stability have been developed, little attention has been paid to their long-term comfortability and optical transparency. Here, a conformable, gas permeable, and transparent skin-like Cu₂ O@Ni micromesh structural glucose monitoring patch is reported. With its self-supporting micromesh structure, the skin-like glucose monitoring patch exhibits excellent shape conformability, high gas permeability, and high optical transmittance. The skin-like glucose biosensor achieves real-time monitoring of glucose concentrations with high sensitivity (15 420 µA cm^{- 2} mM^{- 1} ), low detection limit (50 nM), fast response time (＜2 s), high selectivity, and long-term stability. These desirable performance properties arise from the synergistic effects of the self-supporting micromesh configuration, high conductivity of the metallic Ni micromesh, and high electrocatalytic activities of the Cu₂ O toward glucose. This work presents a versatile and efficient strategy for constructing conformable, gas permeable, and transparent biosensor e-skins with excellent practicability towards wearable electronics.

Disposable non-enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensors based on screen-printed graphite macroelectrodes modified via a facile methodology with Ni, Cu, and Ni/Cu hydroxides are shown to accurately determine glucose in real human serum blood samples

A three dimensional (3D) non-enzymatic glucose disposable electrochemical sensor based on screen-printed graphite macroelectrodes (SPEs), modified with nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)₂/SPE), copper hydroxide (Cu(OH)₂/SPE) and mixed (Ni(OH)₂/Cu(OH)₂/SPE) microstructures were prepared by a facile and cost-effective electrochemical method for the first time. Their morphologies and structures were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrochemical performances of the modified SPEs were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and amperometric measurements. EIS experiments showed lower charge transfer resistance R_ct values for the modified SPEs, calculated to be 29.24 kΩ, 22.58 kΩ, 13.27 kΩ and 36.48 kΩ for Ni(OH)₂/SPE, Cu(OH)₂/SPE, Ni(OH)₂/Cu(OH)₂/SPE, and SPE, respectively. Under optimal experimental conditions, the results reveal that CV, amperometry and EIS can be readily applied to determine glucose using all of the fabricated sensors, however in terms of an accessible and clinically relevant linear range for the electroanalytical detection of glucose, CV is preferred, where Cu(OH)₂/SPE exhibits the largest linear range from 1 μM to 20 mM (R² = 0.997). In terms of sensitivity and the detection limit however, amperometry appeared to be a better choice of technique, particularly with Ni(OH)₂/Cu(OH)₂/SPE which demonstrated the highest sensitivity of 2029 μA mM^-1 cm^-2 and the lowest detection limit of 0.2 μM (S/N = 3). Excellent selectivity was evident against common interfering species, and it was shown to be possible to obtain satisfactory results in human blood serum samples using the as-fabricated sensors. The low cost of the SPEs, the facile preparation and observed clinically relevant analytical sensitivities and limit of detections towards the sensing of glucose make these screen-printed macroelectrode based electrochemical sensing platforms promising for routine human blood serum glucose analysis.

2D metal azolate framework as nanozyme for amperometric detection of glucose at physiological pH and alkaline medium

The synthesis of Co-based two-dimensional (2D) metal azolate framework nanosheets (MAF-5-Co^II NS) is described using a simple hydrothermal method. The product was isostructural to MAF-5 (Zn). The as-prepared MAF-5-Co^II NS exhibited high surface area (1155 m²/g), purity, and crystallinity. The MAF-5-Co^II NS-modified screen-printed electrode (MAF-5-Co^II NS/SPE) was used for nonenzymatic detection of glucose in diluted human blood plasma (BP) samples with phosphate buffer saline (PBS, pH 7.4) and NaOH (0.1 M, pH 13.0) solutions. The MAF-5-Co^II NS nanozyme displayed good redox activity in both neutral and alkaline media with the formation of Co^II/Co^III redox pair, which induced the catalytic oxidation of glucose. Under the optimized detection potential, the sensor presented a chronoamperometric current response for the oxidation of glucose with two wide concentration ranges in PBS-diluted (62.80 to 180 μM and 305 to 8055 μM) and NaOH-diluted (58.90 to 117.6 μM and 180 to 10,055 μM) BP samples, which were within the limit of blood glucose levels of diabetic patients before (4.4-7.2 mM) and after (10 mM) meals (recommended by the American Diabetes Association). The sensor has a limit of detection of ca. 0.25 and 0.05 μM, respectively, and maximum sensitivity of ca. 36.55 and 1361.65 mA/cm²/mM, respectively, in PBS- and NaOH-diluted BP samples. The sensor also displayed excellent stability in the neutral and alkaline media due to the existence of hydrophobic linkers (2-ethyl imidazole) in the MAF-5-Co^II NS, good repeatability and reproducibility, and interference-free signals. Thus, MAF-5-Co^II NS is a promising nanozyme for the development of the disposable type of sensor for glucose detection in human body fluids. Graphical abstract.

Nanostructured nickel oxide electrodes for non-enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensing

Nanostructured nickel (Ni) and nickel oxide (NiO) electrodes were fabricated on Ni foils using the glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique. Cyclic voltammetry and amperometry showed the electrodes enable non-enzymatic electrochemical determination of glucose in strongly alkaline media. Under optimized conditions of NaOH concentration and working potential (~ 0.50 V vs. Ag/AgCl), the GLAD electrodes performed far better than bare Ni foil electrodes, with the GLAD NiO electrode showing an outstanding sensitivity (4400 μA mM^-1 cm^-2), superior detection limit (7 nM), and wide dynamic range (0.5 μM-9 mM), with desirable selectivity and reproducibility. Based on their performance at a low concentration, the GLAD NiO electrodes were also used to quantify glucose in artificial urine and sweat samples which have significantly lower glucose levels than blood. The GLAD NiO electrodes showed negligible response to the common interferents in glucose measurement (uric acid, dopamine, serotonin, and ascorbic acid), and they were not poisoned by high amounts of sodium chloride. Graphical abstract The figures depict (A) SEM image of vertical post-GLAD NiO electrodes used for non-enzymatic electrochemical glucose monitoring, and (B) calibration plots of the three different electrodes.