Elemental Cu-doped Co3O4 thin film for highly sensitive non-enzymatic glucose detection

Abstract

This thesis is a study and analysis of the non-enzymatic glucose sensing ability of elemental Cu-doped Co3O4 thin film deposited on FTO. A facile chemical solution method was utilized to substitute elemental Cu into the Co3O4 host lattice structure. The morphology of the electrode was characterized by XRD, SEM, HRTEM, SAED and EELS. The introduction of Cu resulted in increased electrical conductivity, charge density and decreased charge transfer resistance in Co3O4. This ultimately resulted in enhanced electrochemical activity when compared to pristine Co3O4. The as prepared thin film exhibited very high sensitivity, 1850 μAcm-2mM-1, and linear range up to 7.6 mM. The sensor showed a limit of detection of 153 nM at a signal to noise ratio of 3. The developed sensor was used successfully to measure glucose level in human serum and spiked saliva sample.