LAUSR

Herein, we report the preparation of novel spinel-type CuCo2O4 nanoplates (CCO NPs) through a cost-effective, soft-template (citrate)-assisted method, followed by low-temperature calcination. In the synthesis process, the metal cations such as Cu2+ and Co2+ can react with citrate molecules via coordination interaction to form the CuCo-citrate at elevated temperature. During the calcination process at 500 °C, the citrate molecules were eliminated from the CuCo-citrate precursor via simple organic species, and thus, spinel-type CuCo2O4 nanoplates were formed successfully. Surface morphology, crystalline nature, and phase purity of as-synthesized CCO NPs were assessed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS). As-synthesized CuCo2O4 nanoplates were used to construct a sensitive and reliable enzyme-free electrochemical sensor of acetylcholine (ACh) that shows a meaningful limit of detection (30 nM) with broad dynamic range (0.2–3500 μM) coveri...