Non-enzymatic and self-powered flexible carbon-based Strips/AuNPs/MXene-PtNPs for the detection of glucose in sweat

Reliable and continuous glucose monitoring is essential for diabetes management; however, conventional enzymatic wearable sensors are limited by enzyme instability, mechanical degradation, and reliance on external power sources. Here, we report a novel flexible, non-enzymatic, and self-powered glucose biofuel cell (GBFC) sensor designed for wearable sweat analysis. The sensor utilizes gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as the anode catalyst and a hybrid of MXene-platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) as the cathode, enabling simultaneous glucose sensing and power generation without the need for an external energy supply. The fabricated GBFC exhibited a maximum power density of 1.42 µW/cm 2 and a sensitivity of 0.14 µW/(mM.cm 2 ) over a glucose concentration range of 0.4 to 5 mM in artificial sweat. The sensor demonstrated stable electrochemical performance, with minimal signal degradation during long-term testing. Furthermore, it showed good selectivity toward glucose in the presence of common interfering species found in sweat. High repeatability and reproducibility were achieved, and the sensor retained 82% of its initial performance after 500 bending cycles, confirming its mechanical robustness and flexibility. These results highlight the potential of the AuNPs/MXene-PtNPs GBFC novel architecture as a robust platform for non-enzymatic, self-powered, and flexible glucose sensing in the next-generation of wearable biosensors.