ZnO nanowires modified with Au nanoparticles for nonenzymatic amperometric sensing of glucose

ZnO nanowires (NWs) synthesized using the vapor-phase deposition method on an Au electrode substrate with and without Au nanoparticle (NP) modification are applied for glucose detection. A significant enhancement of glucose sensitivity is obtained with Au NP modification. The Au NPs/ZnO NWs/Au electrode has peak currents gradually increasing from 41.2 to 155.5 mu A, and the ZnO NWs/Au electrode has peak currents increasing from 23.6 to 82.2 mu A with glucose concentration (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 mM) in cyclic voltammograms. Moreover, chronoamperometry results indicate that the response current of the Au NPs/ZnO NWs/Au electrode reached 140 mu A in 18mM glucose in 0.1M NaOH, whereas that of the ZnO NWs/Au electrode was only around 74 mu A in 31.5mM glucose. (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.