Novel Synthesis of AuPt Bimetallic Nanocubes Combined with Graphene Quantum Dots for Non-Enzymatic Sensor of Glucose Determination by Electrochemical Method

In this study, AuPt bimetallic nanocubes (AuPt NCBs) were successfully combined with graphene quantum dots (GQDs) by a simple and easy-to-implement method at 80 degrees C for 90 min. In particular, graphene quantum dots were synthesized by hydrothermal method at 190 degrees C for 8 h, using raw material from wheat flour which is eco-friendly, available and abundant in nature. Besides, AuPt bimetallic nanocubes in the form of AuPt core/shell nanocubes (AuPt NCBs) were generated from the reaction at 140 degrees C for 2 h by hydrothermal method. Furthermore, the synthesized AuPt NCBs/GQDs nanocomposites were also characterized, shape, size and composition by: UV-vis, FTIR, XRD, TEM, EDX, XPS, and AFM. The obtained results show that the Au nanocubes (Au NCBs) have an average size of similar to 39 nm; while, the average size of AuPt NCBs and GQDs are similar to 40-44 and similar to 3-5 nm, respectively. In addition, AuPt NCBs/GQDs nanocomposites were also used as non-enzymatic catalysts for the oxidation/reduction of glucose by cyclic voltammetry technique. The obtained results indicated that the AuPt NCBs/GQDs nanocomposites have high catalytic activity and are capable of detecting glucose in a wide concentration range from 10(-12) to 1 M, with an extremely low limit of detection of concentration glucose levels (similar to 10(-12) M). Therefore, AuPt NCBs/GQDs are novel and promising materials that can be applied as catalysts with high activity oriented to many fields such as environmental treatment, fuel energy cells, or sensors to make bio-chip devices for early diagnosis of serious diseases such as diabetes, gout or cancer, etc., in present and the future. [GRAPHICS] .