Colorimetric detection of chromium (VI) ion using poly(N-phenylglycine) nanoparticles acting as a peroxidase mimetic...

This paper reports on enzyme-like catalytic properties of polyethylene glycol-functionalized poly(N-phenylglycine) (PNPG-PEG) nanoparticles, which have not been explored to date. The developed nanoparticles have the ability to display great inherent peroxidase-like activity at very low concentrations, and are able to catalyze the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) substrate in presence of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The oxidized product of TMB has a deep blue color with a maximum absorbance at ~655 nm. The PNPG-PEG nanoparticles exhibit K_m values of 0.2828 for TMB and 0.0799 for H₂O₂, indicating that TMB oxidation takes place at lower concentration of H₂O₂ in comparison to other nanozymes. Based on the known mechanism of H₂O₂ oxidation by hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] ions to generate hydroxyl radicals (^•OH), these nanoparticles were successfully applied for the colorimetric sensing of Cr(VI) ions. The sensor achieved good performance for Cr(VI) sensing with detection limits of 0.012 μM (0.01-0.1 μM linear range) and 0.52 μM (0.05-12.5 μM linear range). The detection scheme was highly selective, and successfully applied for the detection of Cr(VI) in real water samples.