Electrolyte-controllable synthesis of CuXO with novel morphology and their application in glucose sensors

The CuxO micro/nanomaterials with various novel morphologies have been synthesized on the surface of copper foil by a simple electrochemical method. The morphology of the CuxO crystal could be controlled by adjusting the electrolyte solution. The structure and morphology of as-prepared CuxO micro/nanomaterials were determined by scanning electron microscopy, elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. The formation mechanism of these CuxO micro/nanomaterials was discussed. The CuxO micro/nanomaterial electrodes showed good electrocatalytic activity toward glucose oxidation and the performance of nonenzymatic glucose sensors based on these CuxO micro/nanomaterials was investigated in detail. As a typical representative, the nonenzymatic glucose sensor based on the CuxONaClO4+CoCl2+SDS micro/nanomaterials showed a wide linear range of 0.025-9.05 mM and a low detection limit of 14.3 +/- 0.6 mu M. The green synthetic method of simply adjusting the electrolyte is not only suitable for synthesis of CuxO with various morphologies, but also provides an easy way to prepare other metal oxide with different morphologies for constructing nonenzymatic glucose sensors.