Sensitive nonenzymatic detection of glucose at PtPd/porous holey nitrogen-doped graphene

A facile, low cost and effective method was used to synthesize porous holey nitrogen-doped graphene (PHNG) with three-dimensional (3D) structure via direct pyrolysis of a mixture of urea and magnesium acetate tetrahydrate, followed by treating with hydrochloric acid to remove magnesium cations. The unique structure of PHNG significantly decreases the irreversible stacking of graphene nanosheet , favors the exposure of active edge sites, and enables more accessibility for reactants/electrolytes. The PHNG shows porous structure with a large surface area and can serve as support for nanoparticles . PtPd nanoparticles with different ratios were deposited on PHNG surface to synthesize PtPd/PHNG. The PtPd/PHNG-2 shows high direct oxidation activity towards the glucose, achieving a high sensitivity (52.526 μA mM −1  cm −2 ), wide linear range (100–4000 μM), fast response time (<3 s), low limit of detection (1.82 μM), as well as high selectivity.