One-pot synthesis of uniform Cu nanowires and their enhanced non-enzymatic glucose sensor performance

High cost and narrow detection range of electrocatalyst are the two major challenges for the commercialization of non-enzymatic sensor. In this work, we synthesized Cu nanowires (Cu NWs) with unique morphology and high yields were by a one-pot hydrothermal method. Different from conventional amine-assisted method, we restrained the nano-particles (NPs) formation by introducing the HCl solution. The as-prepared Cu NWs were further utilized in a non-enzymatic glucose sensor. Benefiting from the path directing effects and abundant (100) facets, the sensor constructed by Cu NWs exhibited a superior sensitivity (1001.8 µA/mM cm2) than that by analogous Cu NWs containing Cu NPs (338.3 µA/mM cm2). And the enhanced factor could reach 2.96. Moreover, the obtained Cu NWs show a wide linear response to the glucose. And the detection range could up to 25 mM, with a detection limit of 2.3 μM. This work demonstrated the preferable sensor performance of Cu NWs with uniform morphology, which opens up new avenues for utilizing 1D non-noble metals nanostructures in other sensors.