Polyaniline Derivatives Decorated With Atomic‐Scale Gold Toward Electrochemical Non‐Enzymatic Glucose Sensing

ABSTRACT

This paper reports polyaniline derivatives, such as polyaniline, poly( o ‐toluidine) and poly( o ‐methoxyaniline), decorated with atomic‐scale gold clusters for electrochemical non‐enzymatic glucose sensing. Atomic‐scale gold clusters are deposited onto the electrodeposited polyaniline derivatives via cyclic electrodeposition. Their catalytic activity for glucose oxidation is evaluated by cyclic voltammetry measurements. The introduced functional groups affect their catalytic performance. All fabricated atomic‐scale gold cluster‐decorated polyaniline derivatives demonstrate a wide detection range, low detection limit, high tolerance to chloride ion poisoning and good operational stability. Among the prepared electrodes, using poly( o ‐methoxyaniline) as a supporting material results in the highest catalytic activity toward glucose oxidation with better selectivity. Au ₂ /POMA electrode shows a sensitivity of 200.9 µA mM ⁻¹ cm ⁻² , and a limit of detection of 0.30 mM, as well as the best selectivity and stability. These results demonstrate that the introduction of functional groups onto the polyaniline main chains enhances electrode properties using atomic‐scale gold clusters toward non‐enzymatic glucose sensing applications.