Cu-Ag bimetallic nanostructures with high glucose sensing performance fabricated by a scalable and reproducible method

Abstract

A scalable and repeatable synthetization method is introduced to fabricate Cu-Ag bimetallic nanostructures as a stable, robust, fast-response and enzyme-free glucose sensor. Cu nanocolumns were constructed on the FTO substrate using the glancing angle deposition (GLAD). Then a thin layer of Ag is deposited on the Cu nano-columns through a galvanic replacement reaction. The Cu-Ag nanostructures with different morphologies were developed by tuning the concentration and the reaction time of the galvanic replacement process. Various electrochemical characterizations, including cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), were performed to determine the superior electrocatalytic activity of the electrodes. The results reveal that the superior electrocatalytic performance toward glucose oxidation was achieved with Cu-Ag fabricated under the AgNO3 concentration of 5 mM and with a reaction time of 30 s. The sensor exhibits a fast response of similar to 2 s with an excellent sensitivity of 3802 and 712 mu Acm(-2) mM(-1) in two wide linear ranges of 0.01-3 mM and 3-8 mM and an optimum potential of 0.65 V. The proposed Cu-Ag sensor showed considerable enhancement of electrocatalytic activity compared to Cu or Ag monometallic structures due to the synergistic effect. In addition, the current bimetallic sensor regarding its outstanding precision and its reproducibility provides a promising method for large scale fabrication of non-enzymatic glucose sensors.