Fabrication of hybrid CuO/Pt/Si nanoarray for non-enzymatic glucose sensing

Abstract

Ordered mushroom-like hybrid CuO/Pt/Si nanoarrays were fabricated using ion etching followed by the electrochemical method. The process started with patterning the surface of a Si (100) substrate coated with a thin layer of Pt, forming a hybrid array of nanoneedles. Each nanoneedle consists of a Pt nanodot sitting on top of a Si nanorod. Cu nanosphere was subsequently grown on the surface of each Pt dot and then oxidized to CuO by the method of continuous cyclic voltammetry in NaOH solution. Meanwhile, the multiple redox cycles produce a rough and porous surface on these CuO nanospheres, which significantly increases the contact area of the nanosphere surfaces with the external environments. This unique nanostructure array shows excellent electrochemical sensitivity to glucose detection.