A nanocomposite consisting of gold nanobipyramids and multiwalled carbon nanotubes for amperometric nonenzymatic sensing of glucose and hydrogen peroxide.

Gold nanobipyramids were synthesized by a seed-mediated growth method and then supported by multi-walled carbon nanotubes (denoted as AuNBP/MWCNTs). The electrocatalytic activity of the AuNBP/MWCNTs on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) towards direct glucose oxidation and hydrogen peroxide reduction was superior to that of AuNBPs and MWCNTs. The modified GCE, operated at a typical working voltage of +0.15 V (vs. SCE) and in 0.1 M NaOH solution, exhibits a linear response in the 10 μM to 36.7 mM glucose concentration range with a 3.0 μM detection limit (at S/N = 3) and a sensitivity of 101.2 μA mM-1 cm-2. It also demonstrates good sensitivity towards hydrogen peroxide in at pH 7 solution at a working potential of -0.50 V (vs. SCE), with a linear response range from 5.0 μM to 47.3 mM, a sensitivity of 170.6 μA mM-1 cm-2 and a detection limit of 1.5 μM. Graphical abstract A electrochemical sensing platform based on the use of gold nanobipyramids and multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites (AuNBP/MWCNTs) is described for the determination of glucose and hydrogen peroxide.