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Fe-codoped carbon dots serving as a peroxidase mimic to generate in situ hydrogen peroxide for the visual detection of glucose

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Abstract

Nanozyme technology has gained significant regard and been successfully implemented in various applications including chemical sensing, bio-medicine, and environmental monitoring. Fe-CDs were synthesized and characterized well in this study. As compared to HRP (3.7 mM), the Fe-CDs exhibited a higher affinity towards H2O2 (0.2 mM) using the steady-state kinetic assay and stronger catalytic capability by changing the color of TMB to the blue color of the oxidized state, oxTMB. Additionally, an efficient peroxidase mimic, Fe-CDs/GOx, based on the hybrid cascade system to produce in situ H2O2 for the visual detection of glucose (color change: colorless to blue, and then to green), has been developed in detail, with limits of detection (LODs) for H2O2 and glucose of 0.33 μM and 1.17 μM, respectively. The changes further demonstrate a linear relationship between absorbance and H2O2 concentration, ranging from 10 to 60 μM, and for glucose (1 to 60 μM). To assess the accuracy and detection capability of the Fe-CDs/GOx system, we evaluated a real human serum sample obtained from adult males in a local hospital. In conclusion, Fe-CDs serving as a peroxidase mimic have the potential for various applications in the fields of biomedicine and nanozymes.

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Acknowledgements

Sijia Xie conducted all the experiments and Prof. Hai Xiong conceived the experiments. Sijia Xie and Hai Xiong wrote the manuscript. Yating Zeng helped discussion. All authors have approved the final version of the manuscript.

Funding

This work is supported by the Science and Technology Innovation Commission of Shenzhen, China (20231121191245001 and JCYJ20210324095607021 to HX) and the Special Project of Key Fields of Universities in Guangdong Province, China (2021ZDZX2047 to HX), and Top Young Talent of the Pearl River Talent Recruitment Program, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Sijia Xie, Jinfu Li, Xuemei Lu & Hai Xiong

  2. Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, People’s Republic of China

    Sijia Xie, Yating Zeng & Hai Xiong

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  1. Sijia Xie
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  2. Yating Zeng
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  3. Jinfu Li
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  4. Xuemei Lu
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Correspondence to Hai Xiong.

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The use of the human serum samples used in this study was approved according to the guidelines of the China Ethical Committee by the Regional Ethic Board at Shenzhen University (ethical permissions PN-202400004). The participant provided written informed consent to participate in the detection of glucose.

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The declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work.

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Published in the topical collection featuring Nanozymes with guest editors Vipul Bansal, Sudipta Seal, and Hui Wei.

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Xie, S., Zeng, Y., Li, J. et al. Fe-codoped carbon dots serving as a peroxidase mimic to generate in situ hydrogen peroxide for the visual detection of glucose. Anal Bioanal Chem (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05196-x

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