Non-enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensor with Cu₂O nanoparticles

Summary

A glucometer with no enzyme, made from copper and carbon paste.

Diabetes mellitus affects more than 537 million people and demands accessible, stable and low-cost monitoring devices. Faced with the limitations of commercial enzymatic glucometers, this work explores an alternative based on the Cu(I)/Cu(II)/Cu(III) transition in an alkaline medium.

We designed, fabricated and characterized a non-enzymatic glucose sensor with cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) nanoparticles deposited by pulsed potentiostatic electrodeposition on carbon paste electrodes, using pulses of −0.4 V and 0 V over 15 cycles. Characterization was done by cyclic voltammetry in 0.1 M NaOH, with an EmStat3+ Blue potentiostat and data processing in Python.

The modified electrode showed measurable electrocatalytic activity between 0.4 and 0.7 V, with a current increase proportional to glucose concentration in the 100 to 700 µM range. The report also discusses integration with embedded electronics, the advantages over enzymatic sensors and ISFETs, and the regulatory framework (COFEPRIS, NOM-241-SSA1, FDA, ISO 13485).

What I did

What I did

Pulsed electrodeposition of Cu₂O on carbon paste electrodes, cyclic voltammetry and data processing in Python. Integration with embedded electronics and the regulatory framework (COFEPRIS, FDA, ISO 13485).

Tools

Tools

ReporteFinal_NT2004B_Cu2O_CPE_E3.pdf