Hydrogen bubble templated growth of Au-Pt alloy honeycomb-like films for non-enzymatic glucose sensing

Au and Pt based nanomaterials have shown great promise for non-enzymatic based electrochemical glucose sensing, however obtaining a balance between good selectivity and high sensitivity is still an ongoing challenge. In this work we have developed glucose sensors that take advantage of the properties of both metals through the formation of bi-metallic Au-Pt alloy honeycomb-like structures with controlled Pt content during electrodeposition. The honeycomb-like structures were formed by employing hydrogen gas bubbles developed in-situ as a dynamic template. The developed films were found to possess large surface areas with a homogeneous spread of Au and Pt throughout the surface, enabling both high sensitivity and selectivity when compared to monometallic metal nanostructures. The sensitivity and experimental detection limit of the developed glucose sensor was determined to be 109.3 μA·mM-1·cm-2 (after a 10 s stabilization period) and 20 μM, respectively. Selectivity studies showed minimal to no interference in the presence of Acetic Acid (AA) and Uric Acid (UA), which we have attributed to the Au component of the electrodeposited nanostructures allowing detection at a lower potential, overcoming the lack of selectivity typically experienced by Pt.