Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 18, 2025

Author Spotlight: Functionalizing Metal-Organic Frameworks: Advancements, Challenges, and the Power of Post-Synthetic Ligand Exchange
Published on: June 23, 2023
Modulating p-d Orbital Hybridization in Mesoporous Medium-Entropy Alloy Nanozymes with Enhanced Peroxidase-Like
Yiming Zhang1, Yunqing Kang2, Xiaoqian Wei2
1Institute of Molecular Metrology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Platinum (Pt)-based nanozymes display exceptional stability and catalytic activity in the activation of H2O2, making them ideal peroxidase (POD)-like substitutes for immunoassay applications. However, specific catalytic progress is hindered by the excessive orbital overlaps between Pt and oxygen-based intermediates. Herein, a highly efficient mesoporous medium-entropy alloy (m-MEA) nanozyme is reported to selectively enhance POD activity through synergy interaction of multiple elements. Such synergy reduces the 5d orbital energy of Pt, thereby lowering antibonding energy levels and weakening p-d orbital hybridization between the O 2p and Pt 5d. The reduced orbital overlap lowers energetic barriers and suppresses the excessive adsorption of oxygenated intermediates (*OH2/*OH), as well as weakens oxygen poisoning of active sites. In addition, the exposed mesoporous structure of m-MEA nanozyme ensures accessible active sites, resulting in a high POD specific activity of 304 ± 1.69 U mg-1, which is 6.58- and 507-folds higher than that of mesoporous Pt and nonporous MEA nanozymes, respectively. The m-MEA-based immunoassay platform has been utilized for the detection of prostate-specific antigens, achieving an exceptionally low detection limit of 1.20 pg mL-1, surpassing the sensitivity of traditional enzyme-linked assays.
Related Concept Videos
Oxidation of Alkenes: Syn Dihydroxylation with Osmium Tetraoxide
Introduction to Mechanisms of Enzyme Catalysis

