Sensors in literature (Table 1) consist of metal nanoparticles (silver or platinum) dispersed in electrically conducting hosts, such as multiwalled carbon nanotubes, graphene, ordered mesoporous carbon and polypyrrole. It can be seen that the sensor made in the present work had a wider range of linearity, with a relatively higher sensitivity, compared to many sensors, even those based on electrically conductive hosts. This might be due to relatively better hydrophilicity of NH2-SBA-15, which increases the sensing area for electrochemical reaction [28]. In contrast, in Ref. [19], AgNPs were selectively synthesized inside the mesopores of SBA-15 by converting the hydrophilic, external surface into a hydrophobic surface. This prevents formation of AgNPs on the external surface. However, hydrophobicity of the surface decreases the sensing area for the electrochemical reaction, resulting in a lower linear range. Furthermore, in Refs. [19] and [20], Ag loading of only 4–4.9 wt.% could be achieved by those authors. However, in the present work, a very high loading of AgNPs (17.2 wt.%) was achieved, with uniform dispersion in NH2-SBA-15 porous host. Therefore, the results of the present work suggest that a host with a good electrical conductivity may not be good enough for achieving a superior performance of the sensor. Instead, a better performance can be achieved by uniform dispersion of isolated AgNPs in a hydrophilic host at relatively higher loading (e.g. 17.2 wt.%).