A brief description of electrochemical glucose biosensors and their future challenges

The demand for glucose detection has been on an increasing trend due to the rising diabetic population. An interesting aspect in glucose sensors is how to make the devices be more accurate and efficient, lower cost, and easier to operate. One key part is enzymatic glucose biosensor with the use of glucose oxidase (GOx). Another feasible approach in the design of glucose sensors is the direct electrochemical reaction of glucose based on nanomaterials such as metallic materials, carbon nanomaterials and so on. Based on a summary of research from recent years, it has been found that the mainstream development trend and application direction of enzymatic glucose biosensors is conventional blood glucose monitoring. The increasing emergence of enzymatic glucose biosensors has been instrumental in the advancement of the conventional blood glucose testing industry. In contrast, non-enzymatic glucose biosensor, with their higher stability and faster response speed, are primarily focused on real-time blood glucose monitoring in humans, which includes non-invasive and implantable real-time monitoring devices. In light of this important application, it has been summarized that some recent work on non-enzymatic glucose biosensors and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) over the past three years, observing development trends while discussing current limitations and potential future optimization directions. This review focuses on the mechanisms of these two electrochemical glucose sensors, introducing different generations of enzymatic glucose biosensor and their latest developments, discussing the next generation of non-enzymatic glucose biosensor, as well as comparing their respective advantages and disadvantages.