Pt single-atom electrocatalysts at Cu2O nanowires for boosting electrochemical sensing toward glucose

• A scalable and efficient single-atom catalyst fabricating technique is proposed. • The fine structure of the single-atom catalyst is elaborately unraveled. • Single-atom catalyst demonstrates extraordinary glucose-sensing capability. • The specific role of Pt atoms in the glucose oxidation process is revealed. In electrochemical biosensors, rational design and synthesis of high-performance electrochemical glucose sensors based on emerging single-atom catalysts (SACs) are paramount. Herein, a facile approach is proposed for dispersing single-atom doping of cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O) nanowires with Pt on a copper foam substrate (Pt 1 /Cu 2 O@CF) via the electrochemical deposition process. The specific nanostructure of the single-atom catalyst has been elaborately revealed with the aid of atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAS). The as-fabricated Pt 1 /Cu 2 O@CF biosensor with satisfactory scalability exhibits a low limit of detection (1 μM), ultrahigh sensitivity (31.55 mA mM −1 cm −2 ), excellent selectivity, and robust reliability toward glucose. The first principles simulations reveal that Pt SAC is beneficial to the adsorption of glucose on the surface and further facilitates the electron transfer for the deprotonation process, resulting in high glucose sensing performance. This work sheds light on the applications of SACs for designing ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensors.