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Rational Design of a Hydrophilic Perovskite Ultraviolet Photocatalyst for Mediating a Sensitive and Controllable
Shuo Wang1,2, Qi Xu1, Zhiwen Gan1
1Department of Pharmacy, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
ACS Nano
|October 1, 2025
Summary
Hydrophilic perovskite nanoparticles exhibit ultraviolet oxidase-like activity, converting oxygen to singlet oxygen for rapid substrate oxidation. This enables a sensitive BRAF V600E assay for thyroid cancer detection.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Photocatalysis
Background:
- Designing effective ultraviolet (UV) photocatalysts for aqueous biosensing is challenging.
- Cesium lead halide (CsPbX3) perovskites show potential as photocatalysts but require mechanistic clarification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To reveal the UV photocatalytic mechanism of hydrophilic CsPbX3 nanoparticles.
- To develop a sensitive biosensing assay using perovskite UV photocatalysis.
Main Methods:
- Investigated UV-induced oxidase-like activity (UV-OXD-like) of CsPbX3 nanoparticles (NPs).
- Explored the role of halogen atoms and dopants (Bi3+) on band structure and photocatalytic activity.
- Developed an enzyme cascade assay using LbCas12a and UV-controlled readout for BRAF V600E detection.
Main Results:
- CsPbX3 NPs catalyze soluble oxygen into singlet oxygen (1O2) under UV light, enabling rapid substrate oxidation.
- Bi3+-doped CsPbCl3 NPs demonstrated superior UV-OXD-like activity due to optimized band structure and trap states.
- The developed assay achieved a low limit of detection (0.10 pM) for BRAF V600E without preamplification.
Conclusions:
- Hydrophilic CsPbX3 NPs possess significant UV-OXD-like activity.
- This perovskite-based UV photocatalysis offers a novel platform for sensitive biosensing applications, including cancer detection.
