Nickel Catalysts Supported on Acetylene Black for High-Efficient Electrochemical Oxidation and Sensitive Detection of Glucose

Abstract Electrocatalytic glucose oxidation is a very important reaction in glucose fuel cell and medical diagnosis, which is limited by sluggish reaction kinetics and low diffusion coefficient. Herein, a composite (donated as Ni 6 /AB) consisting of atomically precise nickel catalyst with defined crystal structure [Ni 6 (SC 12 H 25 ) 12 ] and acetylene black(AB) has been initiated as a novel and high-efficient non-noble metal catalyst for the electrochemical oxidation of glucose benefiting from its high exposure of active sites and increased electron/mass transport. The present Ni 6 /AB composites display the onset potential of +1.24 V and the maximum current density of 5 mA cm −2 at the potential of +1.47 V in the electrolyte of 0.1 M KOH with 5 mM glucose. This electrochemical performance is much superior to the alone nickel catalysts, acetylene black, and previous reported nanomaterials. Furthermore, the obtained Ni 6 /AB composites are also expected to find important application in the electrochemical detection of glucose due to its high electrochemical performance. The sensitivity and the detection of limit are determined to be 0.7709 mA cm −2 mM −1 and 1.9 μM, respectively. Our study demonstrates that atomically precise nickel catalysts on acetylene black could be potential promising materials for next-generation energy devices and electrochemical sensors. Graphical abstract