Facile Synthesis of MXene-Ti(3)C(2)/Co Nanosheet Hydrogel Sensor with the Assistance of a Smartphone for On-Site Monitoring of Glucose in Beverages

A one-step cobaltous chloride (CoCl(2)) molten salt method was employed to prepare multilayer MXene-Ti(3)C(2)/Co materials with further ultrasonic treatment to acquire single-layer MXene-Ti(3)C(2/)Co nanosheets (NSs). MXene-Ti(3)C(2)/Co NSs were characterized, and their enzyme-like activities were investigated. Under the catalysis of MXene-Ti(3)C(2)/Co NSs, 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) could be oxidized by H(2)O(2), with the color changing from colorless to blue. The affinity of MXene-Ti(3)C(2)/Co NSs to H(2)O(2) and TMB was better than that of nanozymes reported in previous studies. The MXene-Ti(3)C(2)/Co NSs were used for the colorimetric determination of H(2)O(2)/glucose, with limits of detection (LODs) of 0.033 mM and 1.7 μM, respectively. MXene-Ti(3)C(2)/Co NSs embedded in sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel were used to construct a sensor platform. The digital pictures combined with a smartphone-installed app (color recognizer) could be used to analyze RGB values for colorimetric detection of glucose in beverages. This point-of-care testing platform has the advantages of cost-effectiveness and good transferability, with the potential to realize quick, intelligent and on-site detection.