Ti₃C₂/Cu₂O heterostructure based signal-off photoelectrochemical sensor for high sensitivity detection of glucose

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensing has emerged as a simple and practical method for the analysis and detection, its separated optical signal and detection electrical signal give it the advantages of reduced background noise and outstanding sensitivity. Here, we synthesized a Ti₃C₂/Cu₂O composite through simple oil bath heating process, whose excellent PEC performance and sensitive photoelectric response to glucose make it a propitious substitution to glucose oxidase. On this basis, we construct a PEC non-enzymatic sensor based on the Ti₃C₂/Cu₂O heterostructure for the detection of glucose. Under the optimal conditions, the photocurrent of Ti₃C₂/Cu₂O is linear with the logarithm value of glucose concentration in the wide range of 0.5 nM to 0.5 mM with a detection limit of 0.17 nM. Furthermore, the successful detection of glucose in standard samples and human serum by the proposed Ti₃C₂/Cu₂O based PEC non-enzymatic sensor demonstrates the application prospect of heterostructure material in PEC sensor, which provides a new thought for the design and construction of PEC non-enzymatic sensing platform.