A simple “on–off–on” ECL sensor for glucose determination based on Pd nanowires and Ag doped g-C3N4 nanosheets

Abstract

One-dimensional Pd nanowires (PdNWs) and Ag doped g-C₃N₄ nanosheets (Ag-g-C₃N₄ NSs) were prepared and applied to construct a simple “on–off–on” ECL sensor for glucose detection. Compared to some complex and time-consuming synthetic procedures, in this work, Ag-g-C₃N₄ NSs were prepared via one step thermal polymerization of melamine and AgNO₃ without any handling to get the layered structure. PdNW-functionalized Ag-g-C₃N₄ NSs were used as luminophores, which displayed prominent ECL performance and superior efficient electron transport capacity. Combining PdNW-functionalized Ag-g-C₃N₄ NSs with the competitive binding reaction of the glucose–ConA–dextran system, the prepared “on–off–on” sensor showed high sensitivity and wide linearity for glucose detection. The linear range was 1.0 × 10⁻¹¹ M to 1.67 × 10⁻⁶ M and the detection limit was 3.0 × 10⁻¹² M (S/N = 3).