Engineering of CuO/ZrO2 nanocomposite-based electrochemical sensor for the selective detection of hydrogen peroxide

For the first time, non-enzymatic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) electrochemical sensor based on copper oxide/zirconia nanocomposite (CuO/ZrO2 nanocomposite) has been designed and constructed. In the present study, simple hydrothermal methods were used to synthesize the materials followed by calcination process. The structural and morphological properties of the prepared nanocomposites were investigated by using various analytical and spectroscopic techniques, namely, TEM, FE-SEM-EDAX, XPS, XRD, and BET surface area. In addition, the electrochemical properties were explored by using electrochemical tool such as cyclic voltammetry and amperometric techniques. The obtained results clearly demonstrated that the prepared material hold excellent-crystallinity, well-defined honeycomb-like framework and exhibited an improved analytical performance in the form of current towards the detection of H2O2 due to the presence of ZrO2 which could prevent the agglomeration of duel oxidation state of copper oxide nanoparticles and improved the electrocatalytic performance of copper oxide. Furthermore, the ZrO2’s ionic electrical conductivity can aid faster electron transfer at the modified electrode. The proposed electrochemical sensor exhibited a wide working linear range of 50–800 µM, good sensitivity of 0.28 μAμM−1 cm−2, and lower detection limit 14.5 µM (S/N = 3). Also in the presence of biologically co-interfering compounds such as glucose, dopamine, ascorbic acid, and uric acid, the proposed sensor had an exceptional selectivity.