A porous PdO microrod-based electrochemical sensor for nanomolar-level Cu²⁺ released from cells

Highly porous PdO microrods (PoPdOMRs) with a well-defined morphology, large surface area and active sites were synthesized via a facile wet chemical method for the first time. A sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor was thus developed by using the PoPdOMRs as a sensing platform. The PoPdOMR modified sensor exhibited a response time of less than 8 s, a linear range between 1.0 × 10^-9 and 8.0 × 10^-5 mM, and a sensitivity up to 112 μA μM^-1 cm^-2 for the determination of Cu²⁺. A sound sensing selectivity towards Cu²⁺ in the presence of interfering ions was also observed. On the basis of this sensor, the trace amount of Cu²⁺ released from Raw 264.7 cells was successfully recorded, which makes the PoPdOMR electrocatalyst promising for the development of effective electrochemical sensors for a wide range of potential applications in bioanalysis and environmental chemistry.