Amperometric nonenzymatic sensing of glucose at very low working potential by using a nanoporous PdAuNi ternary alloy.

The authors present a nonenzymatic sensor for glucose that has an exceedingly low working potential which makes the sensor highly selective over other electroactive species. The sensor is based on the use of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) that was modified with a nanoporous PdAuNi alloy (np-PdAuNi). The PdAuNi alloy nanostructure displays enhanced electrocatalytic activity for glucose oxidation (compared to PdNi alloys). The modified GCE enables amperometric sensing of glucose at a typical working electrode potential of 0.0 V vs. SCE in solutions of pH 13 containing 0.1 M NaCl. Response is linear in the 5 to 100 μM concentration range, with a 1.7 μM detection limit (at an S/N ratio of 3). For higher concentrations deviations from linearity were found. The method is selective and reproducible. The modified electrode was applied to the determination of glucose in human serum. Graphical Abstract Nanoporous PdAuNi alloy with three-dimensional bicontinuous nanosponge architecture was successfully prepared via chemical dealloying. The electrochemical nonenzymatic glucose sensor shows a low working potential, wide linear range, good sensitivity, low detection limit and excellent selectivity.