Ordered assembly of platinum nanoparticles on carbon nanocubes and their application in the non-enzymatic sensing of glucose

In this paper, high-quality and three-dimensional nanocomposites of Pt nanoparticles anchored on carbon nanocubes (PtNPs/CNCs) were synthesized by a simple preparation approach. The surface morphology, structure and composition of the prepared PtNPs/CNCs were examined by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that the Pt nanoparticles with the diameter of about 3-5 nm were well dispersed on the surface of CNCs. Electrochemical results demonstrated that PtNPs/CNCs efficiently catalyzed the electrochemical oxidation of glucose in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS), and exhibited a rapid response time of about 1 s, a broad linear range from 0.05 to 10.0 mM, a low detection limit of 0.02 mM, as well as high stability. Thus, the PtNPs/CNCs based electrochemical sensor was promising for application in direct detection of glucose since the electrochemical detection of glucose was performed at low potential, and the signals from oxidation of interfering species could be effectively declined.