Hierarchical nanocomposites of single-crystalline CuO nanoplates attached on the surface of polycrystalline TiO2 nanotubes were first prepared by electrospinning. In application to nonenzymatic glucose determination, the precusor was electrospun onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass directly. After hot press and calcination, a three-dimensional porous CuO/TiO2 modified electrode was fabricated. Because of the combination of hierarchical composite and three-dimensional structure, it exhibits a high sensitivity of 1321 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2) in the range from 10 mu M to 2 mM, a detection limit of 390 nM (S/N= 3) and a good stability. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.