Carbon dots as artificial peroxidases for analytical applications

Area of Science:

• Nanomaterials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biomedical Applications

Background:

• Nanozymes are attractive due to low cost, stability, and tunable properties.
• Carbon dots (C dots) offer high surface area and tunable catalytic activity.
• Peroxidase-like activity in nanozymes is crucial for analytical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the preparation of carbon dots (C dots) with peroxidase-like activity.
• To highlight the analytical applications of C dot nanozymes (CDzymes).
• To discuss strategies for enhancing CDzyme catalytic activity.

Main Methods:

• Focus on C dot preparation and characterization.
• Review of C dot nanocomposites with metals, metal oxides, and metal sulfides.
• Analysis of factors influencing CDzyme specificity and sensitivity (oxidation states, surface residues).

Main Results:

• C dots exhibit tunable peroxidase-like activity.
• Oxidation states and surface residues significantly impact CDzyme performance.
• CDzymes enable sensitive and selective absorption, fluorescence, and electrochemical sensing.
• CDzyme-based biosensors show promise for quantifying analytes like glucose and cholesterol.

Conclusions:

• C dot nanozymes (CDzymes) are versatile tools for analytical and biomedical applications.
• Optimizing C dot properties enhances their catalytic activity and sensing capabilities.
• Further strategies are needed to maximize and tune CDzyme performance for diverse applications.