Rational Design and Scalable Fabrication of Flexible 3D Copper-Based Composite Electrodes for Enhanced Non-enzymatic Glucose Detection

Abstract

Non‑enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensors offer advantages over enzymatic systems in terms of stability, cost, and scalability. However, their practical deployment remains constrained by the limited processability of catalytic nanomaterials and the difficulty of integrating high‑surface‑area architectures into flexible, mass‑producible devices. Here, we report a scalable and rational manufacturing strategy to fabricate a three‑dimensional hierarchical copper-based fabric electrode decorated with Cu(OH)₂ nanowires for highly sensitive and selective glucose detection. This was achieved through the in-situ growth of densely aligned Cu(OH)₂ nanowires on a conductive fabric scaffold, forming an integrated porous network that simultaneously provides a high specific surface area, efficient mass transport, and rapid electron conduction. The engineered electrode exhibits good electrocatalytic activity toward glucose oxidation, achieving high sensitivities of 2.99 mA mM⁻¹ cm⁻² in the range of 0.002-5 mM and 1.62 mA mM⁻¹ cm⁻² in the range of 5-10 mM, along with a low detection limit of 0.2 μM. This work demonstrates a viable pathway toward the development of low‑cost, flexible, and high‑performance non‑enzymatic sensing platforms, with strong potential for use in health monitoring and point‑of‑care diagnostic systems