Efficient Electrocatalyst for Glucose and Ethanol Based on Cu/Ni/N‐Doped Graphene Hybrids

Abstract Copper/nickel nanoparticle‐decorated N‐doped graphene (Cu/Ni/N‐graphene) hybrids were prepared by using a solvothermal method, and further employed as a sensing material for fabricating a sensitive non‐enzymatic glucose and ethanol sensor. Compared with Cu, Cu/N‐graphene, Ni, Ni/N‐graphene, Cu 50 /Ni 50 nanoparticles, and Cu 51 /Ni 49 /graphene, the Cu 52 /Ni 48 /N‐graphene showed enhanced electrochemical activity to glucose and ethanol oxidation, owing to the synergetic effects of Cu and Ni together with N‐graphene sheets in the hybrids. The results showed that the Cu 52 /Ni 48 /N‐graphene hybrid‐modified electrode exhibited excellent performance for glucose detection with a wider linear range (from 0.5 μM to 4.6 mM), lower limit of detection (0.2 μM, S / N =3), and higher sensitivity (1847.56 μA mM −1 cm −2 ) than other modified electrodes. Furthermore, the presented non‐enzymatic sensor also displayed a good response toward ethanol oxidation with a wide linear range from 0.2 to 37.1 mM, lower detection limit of 0.1 mM ( S / N =3), and faster response time (5 s). These results indicated that the excellent properties could promote the potential application of the bimetals and N‐graphene sheets as enhanced materials in constructing non‐enzymatic sensors for electrochemical analysis.