Chemically treated NiCo₂O₄ nanostructures with boric acid for the development of high-performance electrocatalytic materials for non-enzymatic ascorbic acid sensor

A method is presented in this paper for treating NiCo₂O₄ nanostructures with boric acid in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner. Boric acid was applied to chemically prepared NiCo₂O₄ nanostructures for different periods of time, including 30, 60, and 120 min. A variety of analytical techniques were used to examine the morphology, crystallinity, functional groups, and optical band gaps of the crystals. This resulted in the development of an electrochemical non-enzymatic ascorbic acid sensor using NiCo₂O₄ nanostructures treated with boric acid. After being infused with 0.5 M boric acid for 120 min, NiCo₂O₄ nanostructures demonstrated excellent performance for oxidizing AA in a phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.4. There was a wide linear range for non-enzymatic detection between 0.1 and 20 mM. We determined a limit of detection of approximately 0.003 mM and a limit of quantification of approximately 0.008 mM. Graphical Abstract: (Figure presented.)