Rationally designed bimetallic Au@Pt nanoparticles for glucose oxidation

Bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) have aroused interest in various fields because of their synergetic and unique properties. Among those nanoparticles, we strategically approached and synthesized Au@Pt NPs via the sonochemical method with different molar ratios (e.g. 3:7, 5:5, and 7:3) of Au to Pt precursors. The particle structure was confirmed to be core-shell, and the size was estimated to be 60, 52, and 47 nm, respectively, for 3:7, 5:5, and 7:3 ratios of Au to Pt. The detailed structure and crystallinity of as-prepared Au@Pt NPs were further studied by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy with element mapping, and X-ray diffraction. It should be noted that thickness of the dendritic Pt shell in the core-shell structure can be easily tuned by controlling the molar ratio of Au to Pt. To explore the possibility of this material as glucose sensor, we confirmed the detection of glucose using amperometry. Two dynamic ranges in a calibration plot were displayed at 0.5–50.0 µM and 0.05–10.0 mM, and their detection limit as glucose sensor was determined to be 319.8 (±5.4) nM.