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Introducing molecular imprinting onto nanozymes: toward selective catalytic analysis

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Abstract

The discovery of enzyme-like catalytic characteristics in nanomaterials triggers the generation of nanozymes and their multifarious applications. As a class of artificial mimetic enzymes, nanozymes are widely recognized to have better stability and lower cost than natural bio-enzymes, but the lack of catalytic specificity hinders their wider use. To solve the problem, several potential strategies are explored, among which molecular imprinting attracts much attention because of its powerful capacity for creating specific binding cavities as biomimetic receptors. Attractively, introducing molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) onto nanozyme surfaces can make an impact on the latter’s catalytic activity. As a result, in recent years, MIPs featuring universal fabrication, low cost, and good stability have been intensively integrated with nanozymes for biochemical detection. In this critical review, we first summarize the general fabrication of nanozyme@MIPs, followed by clarifying the potential effects of molecular imprinting on the catalytic performance of nanozymes in terms of selectivity and activity. Typical examples are emphatically discussed to highlight the latest progress of nanozyme@MIPs applied in catalytic analysis. In the end, personal viewpoints on the future directions of nanozyme@MIPs are presented, to provide a reference for studying the interactions between MIPs and nanozymes and attract more efforts to advance this promising area.

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Funding

The authors thank the financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (No. 2023JJ40534), thee Huxiang Youth Talent Project (No. 2023RC3168), the Start-up Research Fund of University of South China (No. 221RGC011), the Shandong Key Laboratory of Biochemical Analysis (No. SKLBA2301), the State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Monitoring for Heavy Metal Pollutants (No. SKLMHM202302), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21605061).

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  1. Zhijian Bu and Lian Huang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, People’s Republic of China

    Zhijian Bu, Lian Huang, Shu Li, Qingzhen Tian, Zheng Tang, Qiaoqiao Diao, Xinyu Chen, Jinjin Liu & Xiangheng Niu

  2. Shandong Key Laboratory of Biochemical Analysis, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266042, People’s Republic of China

    Xiangheng Niu

  3. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Monitoring for Heavy Metal Pollutants, Hunan Ecology and Environment Monitoring Center, Changsha, 410019, People’s Republic of China

    Xiangheng Niu

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  1. Zhijian Bu
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Bu, Z., Huang, L., Li, S. et al. Introducing molecular imprinting onto nanozymes: toward selective catalytic analysis. Anal Bioanal Chem (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05183-2

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