In the pursuit of electrocatalysts with great economic and ecological values for non-enzymatic
glucose sensors, one-dimensional
copper@
carbon (Cu@C) core-shell coaxial nanowires (NWs) have been successfully prepared via a simple continuous flow wet-chemistry approach from electroplating
wastewater. The as-obtained products were characterized by X-ray
powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The electrocatalytic activity of the modified
electrodes by Cu@C NWs towards
glucose oxidation was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. It was found that the as-obtained Cu@C NWs showed good electrochemical properties and could be used as an electrochemical sensor for the detection of
glucose molecules. Compared to the other
electrodes including the bare
Nafion/glassy
carbon electrode (GCE) and several hot hybrid nanostructures modified GCE, a substantial decrease in the overvoltage of the
glucose oxidation was observed at the Cu@C NWs
electrodes with oxidation starting at ca. 0.20 V vs. Ag/AgCl (3 M KCl). At an applied potential of 0.65 V, Cu@C NWs
electrodes had a high and reproducible sensitivity of 437.8 µA cm(-2) mM(-1) to
glucose. Linear responses were obtained with a detection limit of 50 nM. More importantly, the proposed
electrode also had good stability, high resistance against
poisoning by
chloride ion and commonly interfering species. These good analytical performances make Cu@C NWs promising for the future development of
enzyme-free
glucose sensors.