A sensitive, selective non-enzymatic electrochemical detection and kinetic study of glucose over Pt nanoparticles/SWCNTs/NiO ternary nanocomposite

The coupling of inorganic metal nanoparticles, semiconductor-based metal oxide nanostructures, and carbon nanomaterials is a promising strategy to fabricate efficient electrochemical sensors. Herein, we successfully designed a sensitive and selective electrochemical glucose sensor using Pt nanoparticles (PtNPs) decorated single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and nickel oxide (NiO) nanostructure-based composite materials. The nanocomposite was synthesized without applying any dispersant or stabilizer using simple ultrasonication and photo-reduction techniques. The morphology of nanocomposite reveals a homogenous dispersion of CNTs and PtNPs over the NiO nanostructure. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) demonstrated that the ternary nanocomposite-modified glassy carbon electrode (Pt@CNTs/NiO/GCE) displayed enhanced catalytic activity compared to CNTs/NiO/GCE, NiO/GCE or bare GGE electrodes. Kinetics studies indicated that the glucose electrooxidation using Pt@CNTs/NiO modified GCE followed irreversible diffusion-controlled kinetics with a transfer co-efficient value (α) ≈ 0.50. Amperometric sensing investigation revealed excellent sensitivity (149.36 µA mM−1 cm−2) and a lower limit of detection value (2.16 µM). The currently fabricated sensor electrode showed appropriate selectivity in the presence of various organic and inorganic species with outstanding repeatability, reproducibility, and sensor stability. The newly fabricated nanocomposite can represent a promising electro-catalyst for the efficient sensing of glucose and other biomolecules by the electrochemical approach.