Hydrogen-assisted synthesis of Ni-ZIF-derived nickel nanoparticle chains coated with nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon layers as efficient electrocatalysts for non-enzymatic glucose detection

Chains of nickel nanoparticles coated with few nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon layers (Ni@NC) are synthesized by hydrogen-assisted pyrolysis of Ni-ZIF. Hydrogen and temperature can play key roles in the formation of oriented Ni@NC nanoparticle chains, and carbon shells can protect Ni nanoparticles from external oxidation and aggregations. Under the optimized potential (0.60 V vs. Ag/AgCl), the Ni@NC7H nanoparticle chains obtained at 700 °C under H₂/Ar atmosphere (Ni@NC7H) demonstrate outstanding performances, such as high sensitivity of 1.44 mA mM⁻¹ cm⁻² (RSD = 1.0%), low detection limit of 0.34 μM (S/N = 3), broad linear range from 1 μM to 1.81 mM, and excellent application potential in artificial sweat and human serum. Therefore, the findings above indicate that this study will provide a general methodology for the synthesis of chains-like core–shell nanoparticle electrocatalysts for non-enzymatic glucose detection.