Facile synthesis of ZnO doped with Au nanoparticles for sensitive and reliable photoelectrochemical detection of glucose

• DOI: 10.1007/s11581-021-04198-4
• Publication Date: 2021-08-16T23:07:32Z
• Authors: Zhidong Ye; Fengjuan Miao; Bairui Tao; Yu Zang; Paul K. Chu
• Keywords: Nanorod; Linear range; Visible spectrum

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensing assisted by metal nanoparticles has attracted much interest due to the fast analysis and low detection limit. Herein, ZnO nanorod (NR) arrays are prepared hydrothermally on the nickel foam (NF) to produce the three-dimensional (3D) ZnO structure for subsequent Au nanoparticle (AuNP) deposition. The AuNPs/ZnO sensor exhibits synergistic catalytic effects in glucose detection. The charge transfer process between AuNPs and the ZnO interface and effects of different light intensities on the catalytic oxidation efficiency in glucose detection are studied systematically. Under UV light irradiation, the sensor exhibits a high sensitivity of 1133.5 µA mM−1 cm−2 which represents a 1.29-fold improvement over that without light (877.9 µA mM−1 cm−2). The sensor shows a large linear range from 1 µM to 6.917 mM as well as a low detection limit of 0.1 µM (S/N = 3). The sensor with excellent selectivity, stability, and reproducibility has large potential in photoelectrochemical nonenzymatic determination of glucose.