Vertically aligned 3D porous NiO nanosheets (s-NiO) were directly grown on graphite disks (GD) by chemical bath deposition via a surfactant template under mild reaction conditions. Such porous s-NiO as active electrode materials for non-enzymatic glucose sensors manifested a much better electrocatalytic performance than most of the existing electrodes of non-enzymatic glucose sensors, including a fast response time (<1 s), a high sensitivity (36.13 mu A mM(-1) mm(-2)), a wide linear range (up to 10.0 mM) and a low detection limit (0.9 mu M at signal/noise ratio (S/N = 3) at a potential of 0.50 V (vs. Ag/AgCI). Significantly, in comparison with the porous NiO nanofilms (f-NiO) fabricated by the traditional drop-coating method, the as-prepared porous s-NiO showed better stability towards the oxidation of glucose. The high electrocatalytic performance and stability were possibly attributed to the unique 3D porous structure of s-NiO. The 3D porous s-NiO vertically grown on GD (s-NiO/GD) could be a desirable electrocatalyst for enhanced performance non-enzymatic glucose sensor. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.