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Nanozyme’s catalytic activity at neutral pH: reaction substrates and application in sensing

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Abstract

Nanozymes exhibit their great potential as alternatives to natural enzymes. In addition to catalytic activity, nanozymes also need to have biologically relevant catalytic reactions at physiological pH to fit in the definition of an enzyme and to achieve efficient analytical applications. Previous reviews in the nanozyme field mainly focused on the catalytic mechanisms, activity regulation, and types of catalytic reactions. In this paper, we discuss efforts made on the substrate-dependent catalytic activity of nanozymes at neutral pH. First, the discrepant catalytic activities for different substrates are compared, where the key differences are the characteristics of substrates and the adsorption of substrates by nanozymes at different pH. We then reviewed efforts to enhance reaction activity for model chromogenic substrates and strategies to engineer nanomaterials to accelerate reaction rates for other substrates at physiological pH. Finally, we also discussed methods to achieve efficient sensing applications at neutral pH using nanozymes. We believe that the nanozyme is catching up with enzymes rapidly in terms of reaction rates and reaction conditions. Designing nanozymes with specific catalysis for efficient sensing remains a challenge.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Copyright 2018, American Chemical Society. B Manganese as a catalytic mediator for photo-oxidation to achieve nanozyme-catalyzed TMB under neutral pH. Reprinted with permission from ref. [41]. Copyright 2019, American Chemical Society. C Lanthanide-boosted singlet oxygen from diverse photosensitizers along with potent photocatalytic oxidation. Reprinted with permission from ref. [42]. Copyright 2019, American Chemical Society

Fig. 3

Copyright 2019, American Chemical Society. B Schematic presentation of porous Co3O4 nanoplates with temperature- and pH-switchable peroxidase- and CAT-like activity. Reprinted with permission from ref. [56]. Copyright 2018 Royal Society of Chemistry. C In situ fabrication of nanoceria with oxidase-like activity at neutral pH. Reprinted with permission from ref. [57]. Copyright 2021 American Chemical Society

Fig. 4

Copyright 2012 Royal Society of Chemistry. B Oxidation of AR to fluorescent resorufin based on the oxidase-like activity of NiO nanoparticles was used as a fluorescent “turn-on” sensor for the detection of phosphate. Reprinted with permission from ref. [71]. Copyright 2020, American Chemical Society. C Schematic of the one-pot cascade catalysis by CuO NPs for oxidation  ascorbic acid (AA) to fluorescence terephthalic acid (TA). Reprinted with permission from ref. [72]. Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. D Schematic diagram of the synthesis of GO-Se nanocomposites and the H2O2 removal mechanism with enhanced GPx-like properties. Reprinted with permission from ref. [73]. Copyright 2017 Royal Society of Chemistry

Fig. 5

Copyright 2020 Royal Society of Chemistry. B Demonstrate the Pt NPs as a smart probe for mercury sensing. Reprinted with permission from ref. [90]. Copyright 2014 American Chemical Society. C The proposed mechanism of the visual chemosensor for Cr6+. Reprinted with permission from ref. [87]. Copyright 2020 American Chemical Society

Fig. 6

Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. B Nanozyme-assisted sensor of heparin based on electrostatic-induced aggregation and multicolor channel. Reprinted with permission from ref. [35]. Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. C Schematic diagram of the biosensing of glucose based on PDDA-modified Au@Ag NRs. Reprinted with permission from ref. [48]. Copyright 2015 American Chemical Society. D Schematic illustration of Ni/Co LDHs to break the pH limitation. Reprinted with permission from ref. [97]. Redrawn 2017 Royal Society of Chemistry

Fig. 7

Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. B Schematic diagram of the smartphone-assisted biosensing of pesticides based on AChE-MnO2@HPH. Reprinted with permission from ref. [115]. Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. C CH-Cu nanozyme for phenolic pollutant degradation and epinephrine detection. Reprinted with permission from ref. [117]. Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

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Funding

Funding for this work was from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22104101).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry & Technology of MOE, College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, Sichuan, China

    Xueshan Chen, Jing Liao, Jinyi Zhang & Chengbin Zheng

  2. College of Chemistry and Material Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, 610068, Sichuan, China

    Jing Liao

  3. West China School of Basic Medical Sciences & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Yao Lin

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  1. Xueshan Chen
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Correspondence to Jinyi Zhang.

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Published in the topical collection Young Investigators in (Bio-)Analytical Chemistry 2023 with guest editors Zhi-Yuan Gu, Beatriz Jurado-Sánchez, Thomas H. Linz, Leandro Wang Hantao, Nongnoot Wongkaew, and Peng Wu.

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Chen, X., Liao, J., Lin, Y. et al. Nanozyme’s catalytic activity at neutral pH: reaction substrates and application in sensing. Anal Bioanal Chem 415, 3817–3830 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-023-04525-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-023-04525-w

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