Porous Co3O4 hollow nanododecahedra for nonenzymatic glucose biosensor and biofuel cell

Cobalt oxide hollow nanododecahedra (Co3O4-HND) is synthesized by a facile thermal transformation of cobalt-based metal-organic framework (Co-MOF, ZIF-67) template. The morphology and properties of the Co3O4-HND are characterized by a set of techniques, including transmission electron microscope (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Brunner-Emmet-Teller (BET). When tested as a non-enzymatic electrocatalyst for glucose oxidation reaction, the Co3O4-HND exhibits a high activity and shows an outstanding performance for determining glucose with a wide window of 2.0 μM to 6.06 mM, a high sensitivity of 708.4 μA mM−1 cm−2, a low detection limit of 0.58 μM (S/N=3), and fast response time(<2 s). Based on the nonenzymatic oxidation of glucose, Co3O4-HND could be served as an attractive non-enzyme and noble-metal-free electrocatalyst in glucose fuel cell (GFC) due to its excellent electrochemical properties, low cost and facile preparation.