Non-enzymatic glucose sensor and photocurrent performance of zinc oxide quantum dots supported multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Hybrid nanocomposites consisting of carbon nanotubes (CNT)/nanomaterial heterostructure play a key part in the excellent performance of nano-devices by coupling different functionalities. In this study, a glucose sensor was fabricated by immobilizing zinc oxide quantum dots (ZnO QDs) on multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) nanocomposites using ultrasonication in an ease and economical method. ZnO QDs with ~ 3–8 nm diameters were grown and anchored on the surface of MWCNTs. These nanocomposites were characterized using different spectroscopy and microscopy techniques. XRD reveals the wurtzite structure of ZnO. TEM confirmed that ZnO QDs were anchored onto MWCNTs. The synthesized nanocomposites were applied as a sensor for electrochemical detection of glucose and as a photoelectric effect for photoelectric current measurements. The electrochemical properties of the MWCNT/ZnO QDs nanocomposite were enhanced significantly for glucose sensing when compared to pristine ZnO and MWCNTs. Results showed that ZnO QDs anchored over MWCNTs have a sensitivity of 9.36 µA µM−1 with repeatable results. The detection limit was found to be 0.208 µM. By applying nanocomposites on the sensor, the linear range could be extended from 0.1 to 2.5 µM, which increases the response time to less than 3 s. Experimental results also indicate that the sensor response is unaffected by the common interference agents during glucose-sensing such as sucrose, ascorbic acid, dopamine and uric acid. The proposed sensor was successfully employed to detect glucose levels in human urine samples with satisfactory outcomes.