Recent Advances in Nanozyme Research

Abstract

As a new generation of artificial enzymes, nanozymes have the advantages of high catalytic activity, good stability, low cost, and other unique properties of nanomaterials. Due to their wide range of potential applications, they have become an emerging field bridging nanotechnology and biology, attracting researchers in various fields to design and synthesize highly catalytically active nanozymes. However, the thorough understanding of experimental phenomena and the mechanisms beneath practical applications of nanozymes limits their rapid development. Herein, the progress of experimental and computational research of nanozymes on two issues over the past decade is briefly reviewed: (1) experimental development of new nanozymes mimicking different types of enzymes. This covers their structures and applications ranging from biosensing and bioimaging to therapeutics and environmental protection. (2) The catalytic mechanism proposed by experimental and theoretical study. The challenges and future directions of computational research in this field are also discussed.

Keywords: catalysis; enzyme mimic; nanozymes; reactive oxygen species (ROS); theory and mechanisms.