In-situ fabrication of 3D flower-like NH 4 NiPO 4 on Ni foam without nickel salts added for high sensitive nonenzymatic glucose detection

Abstract The 3D flower-like NH 4 NiPO 4 was successfully fabricated on nickel foam via one-step hydrothermal route without nickel salts added. In our design, nickel ions were originated from the acid corrosion of nickel foam, which decreased the concentration of nickel ion in the solution and effectively control the environmental pollution. The 3D flowers-like NH 4 NiPO 4 was arranged on the Ni foam, and the 3D flower-like structures were assembled by sheet-like crystals with an average thickness of 380 nm. Furthermore, the sheet-like crystals are also stacked by many layers of nanoflakes. The 3D flower-like NH 4 NiPO 4 modified Ni foam can be used as a binder-free electrode for non-enzymatic glucose detection. And the electrode exhibits excellent electrochemical properties with high sensitivity (6135 μA mM −1  Cm -2 and 2205 μA mM −1  Cm −2 ), wide linear range (covered from 0.001–1 mM and 2–5 mM) and a low detection limit of 0.015 (3S/N) at an applied bias of 0.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl.