The dependence of Cu2O morphology on different surfactants and its application for non-enzymatic glucose detection

Abstract Herein, the Cu2O yolk-shell nanospheres, nanocubes and microcubes were successfully prepared by a simple seed-medium process. The formation of the Cu2O yolk-shell nanospheres can be attributed to the self-assembly process caused by the introduction of the seed medium. The formation mechanism of our obtained Cu2O yolk-shell nanospheres and the dependence of Cu2O morphology on different surfactants have been studied. The obtained samples were applied in the field of non-enzymatic glucose detection. The electrochemical response characteristics of the modified electrodes toward glucose were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). The electrode modified with C-Cu2O (obtained by using CTAB as surfactant) shared the highest sensitivity of 3123 μAmM−1 cm-2, whereas, the electrode modified with S-Cu2O (obtained by using SDBS as surfactant) exhibited the lowest LOD of 0.87 μM and the widest linear range of 0.05–10.65 mM. All obtained sensors showed fast response to the addition of glucose. The obtained electrodes showed better responses to glucose than other coexisting interferences, indicating that the obtained electrodes had the acceptable selectivity to glucose. In addition, the stability for 5 consecutive weeks had also been studied and exhibited satisfactory results. The obtained electrode was also used to detect the glucose content in real serum. The acceptable selectivity, stability together with the excellent sensing ability in real serum make the obtained electrodes a potential for practical applications.