The electrode materials for highly efficient glucose oxidation reaction (GOR) are vital for nonenzymatic glucose sensors (NEGS) and direct glucose fuel cells. The Pd-decorated NiCo 2 O 4 nanotubes (Pd/NiCo 2 O 4 NTs) were prepared through the template-free process. Pd/NiCo 2 O 4 NTs presented highly improved electrocatalytic activity for glucose oxidation. When applied to glucose detection, Pd/NiCo 2 O 4 NTs displayed superior sensing performance with a wide detection range of 5 [Formula: see text]M–9 mM. The sensitivity and detection limit are 214.2 [Formula: see text] and 1.6 [Formula: see text]M, respectively. Moreover, the Pd/NiCo 2 O 4 NTs sensors also demonstrated excellent selectivity and feasibility for glucose detection for serum sample analysis.