Seeing diabetes: visual detection of glucose based on the intrinsic peroxidase-like activity of MoS2 nanosheetsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr03393k

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) has attracted increasing research interest recently due to its unique physical, optical and electrical properties, correlated with its 2D ultrathin atomic-layered structure. Until now, however, great efforts have focused on its applications such as lithium ion batteries, transistors, and hydrogen evolution reactions. Herein, for the first time, MoS 2 nanosheets are discovered to possess an intrinsic peroxidase-like activity and can catalytically oxidize 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) by H 2 O 2 to produce a color reaction. The catalytic activity follows the typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics and is dependent on temperature, pH, H 2 O 2 concentration, and reaction time. Based on this finding, a highly sensitive and selective colorimetric method for H 2 O 2 and glucose detection is developed and applied to detect glucose in serum samples. Moreover, a simple, inexpensive, instrument-free and portable test kit for the visual detection of glucose in normal and diabetic serum samples is constructed by utilizing agarose hydrogel as a visual detection platform. MoS 2 nanosheets were found to possess intrinsic peroxidase-like activity and applied for the colorimetric detection of serum glucose.