Development of non-enzymatic glucose sensor based on efficient loading Ag nanoparticles on functionalized carbon nanotubes

A facile strategy has been developed to fabricate silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) through an electrochemical method with the assistance of metformin functionalized MWCNT (Ag@MH/MWCNT nanocomposite). Investigations by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) confirmed that the prepared nanocomposite have a porous structure that is constructed by interconnecting functionalized MWCNT framework. Electrochemical studies show that the nanocomposite exhibits high stability and excellent activity for electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose in alkaline solutions, which allows the Ag@MH/MWCNT to be used in enzyme-free amperometric sensors for glucose determination. It was confirmed that the Ag@MH/MWCNT based glucose biosensor presents wide response window for glucose concentrations of 1.0 nM–350 μM, short amperometric response time (4 s), low detection limit of 0.0003 μM (S/N = 3), high sensitivity as well as good selectivity.