A Holistically Engineered Laccase Nanozyme With Enhanced Activity for Phenolic Compound Removal.

Area of Science:

• Biomimetic catalysis
• Nanotechnology
• Environmental remediation

Background:

• Laccase enzymes are crucial for pollutant degradation but suffer from stability and activity limitations.
• Mimicking the laccase active site in nanozymes is key for high catalytic efficiency.
• Effective substrate and oxygen transport are vital for nanozyme performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a novel nanozyme, Cu-Cys@PCN-222(Cu/Fe), that holistically biomimics the natural laccase catalytic process.
• To enhance pollutant enrichment, oxygen capture, and catalytic activity through biomimetic design.
• To establish a generalizable paradigm for high-performance biomimetic catalyst development.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of the Cu-Cys@PCN-222(Cu/Fe) nanozyme incorporating Cys and FeTCPP within a PCN-222 framework.
• Construction of CuN4(OH2)/Cu-S unsaturated copper clusters to imitate the laccase active center.
• Investigation of synergistic interactions, catalytic activity, stability, and substrate universality.

Main Results:

• The nanozyme achieved biomimicry of substrate binding and oxygen transport sites, enhancing pollutant enrichment and dissolved oxygen capture.
• The synthesized unsaturated copper clusters successfully mimicked the asymmetric coordination structure of the laccase active center.
• The nanozyme exhibited 2.2-fold higher activity than natural laccase, with excellent structural stability and broad substrate universality.

Conclusions:

• The holistic biomimetic strategy successfully created a high-performance nanozyme with enhanced catalytic activity and stability.
• The Cu-Cys@PCN-222(Cu/Fe) nanozyme offers a promising solution for environmental remediation through efficient pollutant degradation.
• This work provides a generalizable framework for designing advanced biomimetic catalysts for various applications.