A High-Sensitivity Sweat Glucose Biosensor Enabled by an In Situ Grown NiFe PBA on Porous Pt/Ni/Au-SPE

As a promising class of catalysts for enzymatic glucose sensors, Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) exhibit exceptional biomimetic activity. However, their performance is often constrained by poor intrinsic conductivity, which typically limits their sensitivity. To address this limitation, this study presents an effective approach using direct in situ growth of PBAs on the electrode substrates, which enables the effective integration of PBA-based electrochemical systems. A porous Ni framework was first electrodeposited onto a screen-printed gold electrode substrate, followed by the reduction of Pt onto the porous Ni. Subsequently, NiFe PBA was synthesized in situ using the porous Pt/Ni structure as a sacrificial template. Functionalized with glucose oxidase (GOx), the PBA/Pt/Ni biosensor exhibited excellent performance for glucose detection in buffer solution, with a high sensitivity of 262.6 μA mM−1·cm−2 and an ultra-low detection limit of 1.45 μM (calculated at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, S/N = 3). Notably, its sensitivity corresponds to a two-fold enhancement relative to the electrodes modified with commercial Prussian blue using the conventional drop-casting method. Even when tested in human sweat samples, the biosensor achieved a high sensitivity of 236.4 μA mM−1·cm−2 and a linear detection range of 20–1000 μM, with the broad sensing range fully encompassing the typical physiological concentrations of glucose in human sweat. This excellent performance arises from the high specific surface area of the porous Pt/Ni structure and the tight connection between PBA and the sacrificial Ni anode. This research presents a promising design strategy for advanced, wearable, and non-invasive health-monitoring platforms.