Facile synthesis of CuO–Co ₃ O ₄ prickly‐sphere‐like composite for non‐enzymatic glucose sensors

Abstract

Abstract In the field of glucose sensors, the development of inexpensive and high‐efficiency electrochemical glucose sensors is the current research hotspot. In this paper, CuO–Co 3 O 4 composite with a prickly‐sphere‐like morphology is prepared by the facile hydrothermal method for the non‐enzymatic electrochemical glucose detection. X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy are used to analyze the structure, composition, and morphology of the material. In addition, the electrochemical catalytic performance of CuO–Co 3 O 4 to glucose is obtained by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The excellent electrochemical sensing performance may be attributed to the large number of catalytic sites in the prickly‐sphere‐like composite and the synergistic effect of Cu and Co. Under an applied voltage of 0.55 V, CuO–Co 3 O 4 composite shows sensitivity to glucose (1503.45 μA·(mmol·L −1 ) −1 ·cm −2 ), a low detection limit (21.95 μmol·L −1 ), excellent selectivity, a high level of reproducibility, and good stability. This indicates that the CuO–Co 3 O 4 composite has a broad prospect of non‐enzymatic glucose sensing application.