Gold and Platinum Nanoparticle-Functionalized TiO₂ Nanotubes for Photoelectrochemical Glucose Sensing

Abstract

Developing stable photoelectrochemistry (PEC) glucose biosensors with high sensitivity and a low detection limit is highly desirable in the biosensor field. Herein, a highly sensitive and stable enzymatic glucose PEC biosensor is rationally designed and fabricated using a TiO₂NTs/Au/Pt/GOx electrode. First, we prepared one-dimensional TiO₂ nanotube arrays which could realize the orthogonalization of the light-incident direction and the carrier diffusion direction via anodization. Subsequently, we used the method of photoassisted deposition for anchoring Pt nanoparticles on TiO₂NTs after electrodepositing Au nanoparticles. Among them, Au nanoparticles promote light absorption via the surface plasmon resonance effect and the separation of photogenerated carriers through forming a Schottky junction. Moreover, the Pt nanoparticles on the electrode surface can react with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) generated from glucose (Glu) oxidation by glucose oxidase (GOx), accelerating the electron-transfer process during glucose oxidation and greatly improving the sensitivity of the glucose biosensor. As a result, TiO₂NTs/Au/Pt/GOx exhibited excellent PEC performance, achieving a high sensitivity of 81.93 μA mM^-1 cm^-2 and a low detection limit (1.39 μM), far exceeding the performance of TiO₂NTs/M/GOx (M = Au, Pt). Therefore, the introduction of Pt nanoparticles as active substances to promote enzymatic reactions is important for designing high-performance enzyme biosensors.