Non-enzymatic hydrogen peroxide sensor based on a gold electrode modified with granular cuprous oxide nanowires

Granular nanowires with a diameter of about 60 nm were fabricated from cuprous oxide (Cu2O) by an electrochemical method using anodic aluminium oxide as the template. A non-enzymatic sensor for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was then developed on the basis of a gold electrode modified with Cu2O nanowires and Nafion. The resulting sensor enables the determination of H2O2 with a sensitivity of 745 μA mM−1 cm−2, over a wide linear range (0.25 μM to 5.0 mM), and with a low detection limit (0.12 μM). The results demonstrate that the use of such granular nanowires provides a promising tool for the design of non-enzymatic chemical sensors.