DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF NANOMATERIALS BASED GLUCOSE SENSOR

Abstract

Diabetes is widespread in Pakistan and the patients must go through the pain of repeated pricking and thereby are prone to infection. The sensor developed in this study can detect glucose from saliva and save people from the pain of pricking. This non-enzymatic sensor has a longer shelf life and easy storage without being affected by environmental factors like temperature and humidity. The sensor works on a 3- electrode system: working electrode, counter electrode, and reference electrode. The working electrode is of primary significance as it detects glucose by oxidizing it. We devised two methods for making the working electrode: (1) Copper-oxide electrode with CuO nanoparticles grown by the electrochemical method and (2) Copper-oxide electrode with CuO nanoparticles grown by LASER ablation. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used for phase analysis of the developed material to confirm the synthesis of copper oxide. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the surface morphology and particle size of the synthesized material to confirm the presence of particles under the 100-nanometer range. Optical Profilometry was used to analyze the topography and roughness of the synthesized copper oxide. Furthermore, cyclic voltammetry (CV) was performed to analyze the electrochemical behavior of the sensing material, and the redox reactions were studied for solution concentration and corresponding peak current to determine the sensitivity and limit of detection of the sensor. The Glucose sensing and electrochemical results of the working electrode developed by LASER ablation are 5X better than the results of the working electrode developed by the electrochemical method. The sensitivity achieved for LASER treated electrode is 770 µA/mM of glucose with a limit of detection of 0.44 mM. A lower sensitivity of 578 µA/mM of glucose with a limit of detection of 11.1 mM was achieved for the electrochemically grown copper oxide electrode.