Template-free synthesis of hierarchically porous NaCoPO4–Co3O4 hollow microspheres and their application as electrocatalysts for glucose†
Abstract
Hierarchically porous NaCoPO4–Co3O4 hollow microspheres are successfully synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method and calcination in air. It is found that the as-prepared hierarchically porous NaCoPO4–Co3O4 hollow microspheres exhibit good catalytic activity for the oxidation of glucose, shows a fast amperometric response time of less than 5 s, and the detection limit is estimated to be 0.125 μM. More importantly, compared with other normally co-existing electroactive species (such as ascorbic acid, uric acid and dopamine), the electrode modified with hierarchically porous NaCoPO4–Co3O4 hollow microspheres shows good selectivity. These results suggest that hierarchically porous NaCoPO4–Co3O4 hollow microspheres have promising application as electrocatalysts for quantitative determination of glucose with high sensitivity and selectivity.