Cu+ assisted preparation of mesoporous Pt-organic composites for highly selective and sensitive non-enzymatic glucose sensing

Abstract

A Nafion (NF) ionomer was used as a potential new template or scaffold for mesoporous metal composites because intrinsic meso-structures have been found in NF. A facile EC catalytic process, involving a Cu⁺-mediated Pt reduction (CMPR), was successfully used as a major source of Pt nanoparticles (nPts). We found that Cu⁺ assisted nPts formation and self-assembly in the micro-framework of NF ionomers applied to prepare Pt–nanoparticle-embedded Nafion composites (NF(Pt_nano)) exhibiting two different nanostructure characteristics including a microelectrode array with low Pt loading and mesoporous Pt with high Pt loading. The NF(Pt_nano) composites exhibited high catalytic activity and sensing ability without the need for time-consuming template-removing processes. The application of nonenzymatic glucose detection served as a probe to track the micro-morphological variation in NF(Pt_nano) composites. It was demonstrated that NF(Pt_nano) composites exhibited ultra-high sensitivity and selectivity to glucose sensing.