Porous cuprite films: facile solution deposition and their application for nitrite sensing

Nanostructured porous cuprite (NPC) films were first prepared by a facile wet chemical process. The resulted cuprite film was then characterized by Raman spectrum, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), as well as static contact angle experiment. Electrochemical catalytic performance of the NPC film was also tested. The low detection limit was estimated to be 6.3 microM (S/N = 3), and the time required to reach 95% of the steady-state current was shorter than 10 s after the addition of nitrite, which demonstrated that the as deposited nanostructured cuprite film has both high catalytic sensitivity and fast current response in nitrite sensing. The self-supporting porous nanostructure and their good contact with the conducting substrate resulted in large specific area, structure stability and efficient transportation. The good electrocatalytic performance shows that the nanoparticle-assembled thin films with nanoporous structure and nanocrystallites have potential applications as electrocatalysis platforms in biosensors.