Block‐Copolymer‐Assisted Electrochemical Synthesis of Mesoporous Gold Electrodes: Towards a Non‐Enzymatic Glucose Sensor

Abstract

Sensing technology for biomolecules has played a key role for maintaining a high quality of life. Various kinds of sensing techniques have been developed for detecting biomolecules. Among the detection techniques which have been reported so far, non‐enzymatic glucose detection, based on electrochemical mechanisms, has attracted great interest as a facile route for monitoring glucose levels in the blood. In this method, designing nanostructured electrodes is a promising strategy to improve detection performance. Owing to their fascinating physicochemical properties, including superior electrical and electrocatalytic properties, mesoporous metal films offer a wide range of useful applications which cannot be achieved by other mesoporous materials. In this work, mesoporous Au films (MpGFs) are synthesized by an effective and simple electrochemical process in the presence of a surfactant, where the mesoporous structure can be controlled by the size of the polymeric micelles. The micelles are removed using a tetrahydrofuran‐based solvent‐extraction method. The activity of MpGFs towards glucose oxidation is evaluated under a fixed potential in alkaline solution. Under optimal potentials, the current response for other interfering molecules is minimal, while the current response for glucose is maximal. A linear relationship between the current response and the glucose content is observed over a wide range of concentrations. Thus, our MpGF shows an excellent performance for electrochemical glucose sensing applications.

Designed Patterning of Mesoporous Metal Films Based on Electrochemical Micelle Assembly Combined with Lithographical Techniques

“…Moreover, the background current in Figure c is almost zero, which provides superior benefits for measuring sensitively trace amounts of glucose in the presence of other interfering species . The PMGFs show a linear response over 200 × 10 −9 to 1 × 10 −6 m with a correlation coefficient 0.988 and the limit of detection (LoD) was estimated to be 450 × 10 −9 m (Figure h), which is almost ten times higher than NMGFs (4.12 × 10 −6 m ) . Such a detection at a nanomolar level has never been reported, although different Au structures such as Au nanoparticles (500 × 10 −6 m ), inverse‐opal Au film (3.2 × 10 −6 m ), polymer stabilized Au (61 × 10 −6 m ), and nanowires (50 × 10 −6 m ) have also been tested .…”

“…The PMGFs show a linear response over 200 × 10 −9 to 1 × 10 −6 m with a correlation coefficient 0.988 and the limit of detection (LoD) was estimated to be 450 × 10 −9 m (Figure h), which is almost ten times higher than NMGFs (4.12 × 10 −6 m ) . Such a detection at a nanomolar level has never been reported, although different Au structures such as Au nanoparticles (500 × 10 −6 m ), inverse‐opal Au film (3.2 × 10 −6 m ), polymer stabilized Au (61 × 10 −6 m ), and nanowires (50 × 10 −6 m ) have also been tested . We believe that this higher electrocatalytic activity is not limited to glucose and could be employed to design ultrasensitive detection of other clinically relevant disease‐specific molecules.…”

“…which are also prone to oxidation near glucose potential (300–400 mV) . Moreover, the background current in Figure c is almost zero, which provides superior benefits for measuring sensitively trace amounts of glucose in the presence of other interfering species . The PMGFs show a linear response over 200 × 10 −9 to 1 × 10 −6 m with a correlation coefficient 0.988 and the limit of detection (LoD) was estimated to be 450 × 10 −9 m (Figure h), which is almost ten times higher than NMGFs (4.12 × 10 −6 m ) .…”

“…We have chosen 200 mV for CA studies to minimize the nonspecific responses caused by other electroactive biomolecules present in biological system such as ascorbic acid, uric acid, maltose, etc. which are also prone to oxidation near glucose potential (300–400 mV) . Moreover, the background current in Figure c is almost zero, which provides superior benefits for measuring sensitively trace amounts of glucose in the presence of other interfering species .…”

Electrochemical preparation system for unique mesoporous hemisphere gold nanoparticles using block copolymer micelles

“…The synthesis of mesoporous structures using self-assembled polymeric micelles as so-templates, on the other hand, is a more facile method with fewer synthetic steps, and it is also known to be free of contaminations within the pores. Although a so-templating method using polymeric micelles has been utilized for the preparation of mesoporous Au and Au-based alloy lms towards surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals, 19 glucose sensing, 20,21 and MOR, 22 the obtained morphologies have been limited to only lms.…”