Three-dimensional macroporous carbon/hierarchical Co3O4 nanoclusters for nonenzymatic electrochemical glucose sensor

A novel supporting material named as three-dimensional kenaf stem-derived carbon (3D-KSCs) was used to load hierarchical Co 3 O 4 nanoclusters for electrochemical sensing glucose. The 3D-KSCs/hierarchical Co 3 O 4 nanoclusters were constructed by two steps. Los of acicular precursor nanoclusters firstly grew on the channels of 3D-KSCs densely by hydrothermal method and then the as-prepared 3D-KSCs/hierarchical Co 3 O 4 nanoclusters was obtained by thermal pyrolysis of the 3D-KSCs/precursors nanocomposites at 400   °C. The 3D macroporous configuration of 3D-KSCs resulted in lots of hierarchical Co 3 O 4 nanoclusters arrayed on the surface of 3D-KSCs owing to its large enough specific surface area , which effectively avoided their aggregations and improved the stability of nanocomposites. The obtained 3D-KSCs/hierarchical Co 3 O 4 nanoclusters showed a large number of needle-shaped and layered Co 3 O 4 nanoclusters uniformly grew on the macropore’s walls of 3D-KSC. Due to its unique nanostructures, the 3D-KSCs/hierarchical Co 3 O 4 nanoclusters integrated electrode showed superior performance for nonenzymatic electrochemical glucose sensing, showing wide linear range (0.088–7.0   mM) and low detection limit of 26   μM. It might be a new strategy to prepare nanostructures on 3D-KSC for future applications.