Development of sensitive non-enzymatic glucose sensor using complex nanostructures of cobalt oxide

The study reports the synthesis of cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanostructures and their application in enzyme free electrochemical sensing of glucose. The synthesized nanostructures were elaborately characterized via number of analytical techniques including scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The as-synthesized nanostructures of Co3O4 were found to exhibited nanodisc like morphology with the size dimension in range of 300–500 nm. The obtained morphological features were evaluated for their electrochemical potential towards oxidation of glucose which enabled development of sensitive (27.33 µA mM−1 cm−2), and stable enzyme free glucose sensor. In addition, the developed sensor showed excellent linearity (r2=0.9995), wide detection range (0.5–5.0 mM), lower detection limit (0.8 µM) and extreme selectivity towards glucose in the presence of common interferents like dopamine (DP), ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA). The successfully application of developed sensor for real blood glucose analysis further reflects its capability for routine glucose measurement.