Self-assembly of BiIII ultrathin layer on Pt surface for non-enzymatic glucose sensing

•A ultrathin layer of Bi was adsorbed onto Pt surface by self-assembly.•The BiIII-Pt electrode exhibits high electrocatalysis to glucose due to the more OH absorbed by Bi to form active Pt-OH.•The BiIII-Pt electrode gives high sensitivity and excellent linearship of non-enzymatic glucose sensing. Bismuth has been attracting research interest in recent decades due to its unique properties. Especially, there is a great difference for bismuth between its surface and bulk material properties in which the surfaces are much better metals than the bulk. A ultrathin layer of bismuth was adsorbed onto platinum electrode surface by simple self-assembly. Compared with bare platinum electrode, two greatly increased oxidation peaks were observed at negative and positive potential area with the obtained BiIII-Pt electrode, where Bi0 or BiIII tends to adsorb more OH which is shared by the below adjacent platinum atom to form a structure of Pt-OH with high electrocatalytical activity. The BiIII-Pt electrode gives high sensitivity and excellent linearship of non-enzymatic glucose sensing, showing potential application for fuel cell, electrocatalysis and electroanalysis.