https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06971-0
Regular Article
Design of micro-DBD plasma system to prepare non-enzymatic biosensors for glucose sensing
1
Department of Physics, College of Science, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq
2
College of Engineering Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
a
dr.baida_222@uomustansiriyah.edu.iq
Received:
2
May
2025
Accepted:
16
October
2025
Published online:
31
October
2025
Diabetes and its resulting complications are a global concern and the cause of many deaths worldwide. The speed of diagnosis is crucial to avoid the worsening of the condition. Thus, in this study, a non-enzymatic glucose biosensor was developed using zinc (Zn) foil modified with dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) plasma. DBD technology was chosen because it is easy to use and environmentally friendly. Electrochemical biosensors utilize an electrode as a transducer and a biological element diagnostic component. This work offers an interesting method for modifying the surface of Zn foil using cold plasma. For this, two copper electrodes and a gas mixture (Ar/O at a ratio of 1:10) were employed at different exposure times (1, 2 and 3 min). Several tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed biological sensor. XRD analysis revealed clear peaks for Zn and ZnO, where the strongest peak corresponded to Zn (101). A photoluminescence (PL) test showed a shift in the peaks with time (136.3, 136.8 and 137.99 nm), representing the strong interaction with ultraviolet radiation in all PL spectra. Three peaks appeared in the binding energy spectra at Zn 2p1/2, Zn 2p3/2 and O 1 s. FE-SEM revealed that the thickness decreased with time (8.23, 7.25 and 5 nm for 1, 2 and 3 min, respectively). Furthermore, a voltmeter examination showed that the higher the glucose in the solution (3–18 mM), the higher the sensitivity; thus, the fastest response time was obtained at 3 min of plasma exposure (5.05 × 10–4 mA, 0.94 mA/mm2).
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
