Hierarchical hollow CuO/Cu2O and Cu2O/Cu/C derived from metal–organic framework for non-enzymatic oxidation toward glucose

Constructing copper-based oxide composite with ingenious architecture is attracting enormous attention due to the synergistic effect of components and enhanced performance resulted from structure. Herein, hierarchical hollow CuO/Cu2O and Cu2O/Cu/C are prepared via calcining hierarchical tubular metal–organic framework (MOF) in air atmosphere and Ar atmosphere, respectively. With calcining in air atmosphere, the obtained hierarchical hollow CuO/Cu2O is constructed by nanosheets which is composed of particles in diameter of 20–30 nm. In Ar atmosphere, the synthesized hierarchical hollow Cu2O/Cu/C is constructed by larger particles in diameter of about 65 nm. And these differences in component and building unit are ascribed to different dominant reaction involved in calcination of MOF at different atmospheres. Notably, the hollow structure of parent MOF is perfectly remained, which contributes to the enhancement of copper-based oxide composites in electrocatalytic oxidation toward glucose. The hierarchical hollow CuO/Cu2O and Cu2O/Cu/C can be applied as an excellent glucose sensor with higher sensitivity, wider detection range and lower limitation of detection. Selecting suitable MOF as sacrificed template being calcined in effective atmosphere, provides a facile strategy for constructing derivant with functional structures and increased properties.