Prussian blue hollow nanostructures: Sacrificial template synthesis and application in hydrogen peroxide sensing

A facile sacrificial template method was developed for the controlled synthesis of Prussian blue (PB) hollow nanostructures. The hollow nanostructures can either be hollow nanospheres or nanotubes by controlling the shape of the sacrificial template. The morphology, structure and composition of the as-prepared PB hollow nanostructures were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy. The results showed that the PB hollow nanostructures had complementary shapes and sizes of the original sacrificial templates. In addition, PB hollow nanostructures were immobilized on the surface of glassy carbon electrode and applied to detect hydrogen peroxide. Cyclic voltammograms showed that the PB nanotubes kept their intrinsic electrochemical properties, and possessed prominent electrocatalytic activity toward the reduction of hydrogen peroxide. This approach can be extended to synthesize the other PB analogues for the applications in high-performance bioelectronic devices and biosensors.