A non-enzymatic glucose sensor based on electrospun 3-D copper oxide micro-nanofiber network films using carboxylic-functionalized poly(arylene ether ketone)s as templates.

Benefitting from the carboxylic functional group, the high performance polymer PCA-PAEK was first used as a template to produce 3-D rope-like CuO micro-nanofiber (CuO-MNF) network films electrospinning and subsequent calcination. FT-IR proved the ion exchange reaction between the template and Cu ions, and demonstrated the final structure of CuO when combined with EDX and XRD spectra. SEM and TGA revealed the small amount of Cu immobilized on the template, resulting in small diameter (348 nm), short length and 3-D network structure of the CuO-MNFs. The CuO-MNFs were then investigated in detail for direct electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose, which was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Results revealed a higher sensitivity, faster response and better anti-interference than CuO-MNFs produced from traditional templates at +0.40 V. The improved performance was ascribed to the high surface-to-volume ratio and the excellent 3-D network structure after immobilization. Therefore, it was concluded that the functional group on PCA-PAEK determined the morphology and performance of the CuO-MNFs.