The nanorods of cobalt phosphide have been prepared and evaluated as an electrocatalyst for non-enzyme glucose detection. The nanorods were used to modify the surface of an electrode and detect glucose without the help of an enzyme for the first time. The crystal structure and composition of cobalt phosphide were identified by XRD and XPS, respectively, and the morphology of the as-prepared samples was observed by FESEM and TEM. The electrochemical measurement results indicate that the CoP-based sensor exhibits excellent catalytic activity and a far lower detection potential compared to bare GCE. Specifically, the electrocatalytic mechanism of CoP in the detection of glucose was proposed based on a series of physical characterization methods, electrochemical measurements, and theoretical calculations.

Armchair graphene nanoribbon (AGNR) is one of the most investigated semiconducting graphene materials.The controllable approach on AGNR is quite useful for future optical applications. To realize the aim, optical properties of three AGNRs with Stone-Wales (SW) defects and hydrogenation on the SW defects (SW-H) are theoretically investigated. W8, W9 and W10 AGNRs are chosen based on the width (W) index of n. SW defects enlarge the band gap of W8, and reduce the band gap of W9 and W10. The hydrogenations increase the band gaps of W8-and W9-SW, and decrease the one of W10-SW. The distributions of exciton wavefunctions located near one edge of W10-SW-H, revealed an obvious quantum confinement effect. In W10 serials, the exciton binding energy difference between SW and SW-H structures is only 0.08 eV, indicating tuneable optical applications with this small exciton binding energy switch. Due to the strong optical absorption and small exciton binding energy of W9-SW, it also possesses potential applications for luminescence and photovoltaic devices. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Optical spectrum of graphene, and the relation of exciton binding energy and k-point grid in W9-SW. See

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The functional groups on armchair graphene nanoribbons affect the spatial distribution of the wavefunction and influence the electronic and optical properties as well.