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• We have produced porous Cu nanostructures by glancing angle deposition. • The Cu nanostructures deposited on FTO provide a sensitive glucose sensor. • Impressive electrochemical responses from the electrode were measured. • A high glucose detection sensitivity of 1862 μAcm−2 mM−1 was obtained. • The fabrication method proposes excellent reproducibility and selectivity. In this work, we have proposed a proper method to fabricate porous Cu nanostructured electrodes for non-enzymatic glucose detection. The glancing angle deposition (GLAD) has been used to produce Cu nanostructures on the FTO substrates. To optimize the sensing performance of the electrode, the effects of vapor deposition angle and azimuthal substrate rotation speed have been investigated. As a result, the superior electrocatalitic activity is obtained under the deposition angle of θ = 82° and the substrate rotation speed of φ ̇ = 20 rpm, respectively. By controlling the GLAD deposition parameters, an excellent sensing performance against glucose with a high sensitivity of 1862 μAcm−2 mM−1, a low detection limit of 0.048 μM and two wide linear ranges of detection of 10 μM–2 mM and 2–8 mM have been achieved at the applied potential of 0.5 V. Considering the high selectivity, excellent reproducibility and accurate measuring of the glucose levels in human serums, the proposed Cu-based sensor has a remarkable potential for large-scale production as a non-enzymatic glucometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]