Ginkgo Leaf Inspired Fabrication of Micro/Nanostructures and Demonstration of Flexible Enzyme-Free Glucose Sensors

Abstract

Flexible enzyme-free glucose sensors have attracted widespread attention due to their importance and potential applications in clinical diagnosis, flexible wearable devices, and implanted devices in vivo. At present, there are still major problems in fabricating flexible enzyme-free glucose sensors with low detection limits, high stability, and high sensitivity at low cost, hindering their practical application. Here, we report a facile strategy for the fabrication of flexible non-enzymatic glucose sensors using ginkgo leaf as a template. NiO film and PEDOT:PSS composite film were deposited on the surface of the ginkgo leaf induced micro-nano hierarchical structure as a sensitive layer and a conductive layer, respectively. The as-prepared, flexible, enzyme-free glucose sensor exhibited excellent electrochemical performance toward glucose oxidation with a sensitivity of 0.7413 mA·mM−1/cm−2, an operating voltage of 0.55 V, a detection limit of 0.329 μM, and good anti-interference. Due to the simple fabrication process and performance reliability, the novel flexible enzyme-free glucose sensor is an attractive candidate for next generation wearable and implantable non-enzymatic glucose diagnostic devices.