Template synthesis of the Cu(2)O nanoparticle-doped hollow carbon nanofibres and their application as non-enzymatic glucose biosensors

The cuprous oxide nanoparticle (Cu(2)O NP)-doped hollow carbon nanofibres (Cu(2)O/HCFs) were directly synthesized by the anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) template. The doped Cu(2)O NPs were formed by in situ deposition by direct reduction reaction of precursor carbonization in thermal decomposition and could act as functionalized nanoparticles. The synthesized Cu(2)O/HCFs were characterized in detail by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results reveal that Cu(2)O/HCFs have a tubular structure with an average diameter of approximately 60 nm. The shape of the Cu(2)O/HCFs is straight and Cu(2)O NPs are uniformly distributed and highly dispersed in HCFs. Cu(2)O/HCFs have good dispersibility. The electrochemical activity of Cu(2)O/HCFs was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), the glucose sensors display high electrochemical activity towards the oxidation of glucose. Cu(2)O/HCFs can effectively accelerate the transmission of electrons on the electrode surface. Cu(2)O/HCFs are applied in the detection of glucose with a detection limit of 0.48 µM, a linear detection range from 7.99 to 33.33 µM and with a high sensitivity of 1218.3 µA cm(−2) mM(−1). Moreover, the experimental results demonstrate that Cu(2)O/HCFs have good stability, reproducibility and selectivity. Our results suggest that Cu(2)O/HCFs could be a promising candidate for the construction of non-enzymatic sensor.