Bimetal-organic frameworks MnCo-MOF-74 derived Co/MnO@HC for the construction of a novel enzyme-free glucose sensor

[Display omitted] •An enzyme-free glucose electrochemical sensor was constructed based on MnCo-based nanoparticles with hierarchical carbon (Co/MnO@HC), which was derived from solvothermal synthesis of MnCo-MOF-74.•MnCo-MOF-74 was successfully sintered into Co/MnO@HC by high temperature carbonization.•The synergistic catalysis of bimetals is helpful to the development of sensors with high sensitivity and selectivity.•Excellent stability and interfering resistance are demonstrated by Nafion/Co/MnO@HC/GCE. An enzyme-free glucose electrochemical sensor was constructed based on MnCo-based nanoparticles with hierarchical carbon (Co/MnO@HC), which was derived from solvothermal synthesis of MnCo-MOF-74. Detailed characteristics of the as-prepared materials were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution TEM (HRTEM), energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS) mapping and X-photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Then Co/MnO@HC was dropped onto glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to fabricate a novel enzyme-free glucose sensor. The performance of the sensor was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry, the results showed that the biosensor has good electrocatalytic activity for glucose in the range of 50–900 μM and 1.9–6.9 mM with a sensitivity of 233.8 μA mM−1 cm−2 and a detection limit (S/N = 3) of 1.31 μM. Further, the constructed Nafion/Co/MnO@HC/GCE has been successfully applied to determine glucose in real serum samples, which exhibited excellent reproducibility, anti-interference and stability.