Ti₂C-TiO₂ MXene Nanocomposite-Based High-Efficiency Non-Enzymatic Glucose Sensing Platform for Diabetes Monitoring

Diabetes is a major health challenge, and it is linked to a number of serious health issues, including cardiovascular disease (heart attack and stroke), diabetic nephropathy (kidney damage or failure), and birth defects. The detection of glucose has a direct and significant clinical importance in the management of diabetes. Herein, we demonstrate the application of in-situ synthesized Ti₂C-TiO₂ MXene nanocomposite for high throughput non-enzymatic electrochemical sensing of glucose. The nanocomposite was synthesized by controlled oxidation of Ti₂C-MXene nanosheets using H₂O₂ at room temperature_. The oxidation results in the opening up of Ti₂C-MXene nanosheets and the formation of TiO₂ nanocrystals on their surfaces as revealed in microscopic and spectroscopic analysis. Nanocomposite exhibited considerably high electrochemical response than parent Ti₂C MXene, and hence utilized as a novel electrode material for enzyme-free sensitive and specific detection of glucose. Developed nanocomposite-based non-enzymatic glucose sensor (NEGS) displays a wide linearity range (0.1 µM-200 µM, R² = 0.992), high sensitivity of 75.32 μA mM^-1 cm^-2, a low limit of detection (0.12 μM) and a rapid response time (~3s). NEGS has further shown a high level of repeatability and selectivity for glucose in serum spiked samples. The unveiled excellent sensing performance of NEGS is credited to synergistically improved electrochemical response of Ti₂C MXene and TiO₂ nanoparticles. All of these attributes highlight the potential of MXene nanocomposite as a next-generation NEGS for on the spot mass screening of diabetic patients.