The detection of glucose has been attracting more and more attention. The present work provided a novel glucose sensor based on hierarchical NiO superstructures/foam Ni electrode. In this strategy, the foam Ni was chosen as a substrate to grow Ni metal-organic frameworks (NiMOFs) via "twin metal source" method, and then the hierarchical NiO superstructures/foam Ni electrode was constructed by pyrolyzing the corresponding NiMOFs/foam Ni electrode for the first time. The preparation process was carefully characterized by scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray powder diffraction. The results showed the NiMOFs on foam Ni electrode with morphology of the flakes. After the NiMOFs/foam Ni electrode was pyrolyzed, the hierarchical NiO superstructures/foam Ni electrode was formed and the hierarchical NiO superstructures uniformly embedded in three-dimensional carbon frameworks to enhance the electrical conductivity of hierarchical NiO superstructures. The electrocatalytic properties of hierarchical NiO superstructures/foam Ni electrode were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, amperometry and chronoamperometry. The novel glucose sensor showed a reasonable linear range of 0.018-1.2 mM and detection limit of 6.15 mu M with a high sensitivity of 395 mu A mmol(-1). Such good result renders it promising candidate for routine testing. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.