Facile one-pot synthesis of Mn3O4 nanorods and their analytical application

One-pot synthesis of Mn3O4 nanorods is reported for the first time by the oxidation of manganese metal resulting from reducing Mn2+ by NaBH4 at room temperature. The resultant Mn3O4 nanorods were 10–70 nm in width and up to hundreds of nanometers in length, and were very stable in aqueous solution. The Mn3O4 nanorods can oxidize H2O2 under acidic conditions quickly accompanying their decomposition. Using 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) as a competitive chromogenic substance, colorimetric methods were developed for the sensitive detection of H2O2 and glucose. The methods exhibited a linear range of 2–100 μM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.7 μM for detecting H2O2, and a linear range of 5–200 μM with a LOD of 4.4 μM for detecting glucose. The application in analyzing glucose in human serum samples demonstrates its practicability.