Nanomaterials are well-known for their impressive catalytic activity. However, more recently, a number of nanomaterials are being discovered to behave similar to the traditional biomolecular enzymes such as peroxidase, oxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase. This biomimetic activity of nanomaterials is establishing ‘NanoZymes’ as artificial inorganic enzymes and the research field have just begun to explore this unique property for a range of applications. Our group has established that by combining the NanoZyme activity of different nanomaterials with different molecular recognition elements such as aptamers, antibodies and lectins, the NanoZyme activity can be actively modulated. This control over NanoZyme activity of inorganic materials has allowed us to develop new ultrafast, highly sensitive and selective colorimetric nano-biosensors for the detection of a range of analyte molecules. We have shown that this generic biosensing approach can be applied for the detection of a range of targets relevant to environmental monitoring as well as biomedical and food industries. The examples of different analytes that we have been able to detect using this concept include pesticides, antibiotics, small biomolecules like cysteine and glucose, pathogenic bacteria with sup-species level specificity, viruses, different cancer cells, and diseases such as bacterial vaginosis. We will discuss some of the recent developments made by our group in this area.

Biomimetic NanoZyme sensors: From environmental to clinical diagnostics

256th National Meeting (2018)

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