Single-atom iron nanozyme with oxidase-like activity for ultrasensitive polyphenol detection

Abstract

Colorimetric sensors based on nanozymes hold significant potentials in the fields of analysis and sensing. However, most nanozymes have poor selectivity and relatively low catalytic activity, which limits their practical applicability. Herein, Fe–N–C single-atom nanozyme (Fe-SAzyme) with excellent catalytic activity was synthesized through a ZIF-templated and pyrolytic strategy. The as-synthesized Fe-SAzyme can mimics oxidase-like activity by catalyzing the oxidation of 3,3’,5,5’-tetramethylbenzidine to generate distinctive color reactions. Additionally, the Fe-SAzyme was successfully utilized in colorimetric detection and discrimination of various polyphenols based on nanozyme inhibition. Furthermore, a colorimetric sensor with a detection limit of 0.04 μg/mL was developed for the quantitative detection of pyrogallol. This work provided a new sensing technique for detecting polyphenolic compounds using single-atom iron nanozymes, demonstrating promising potential in the fields of food safety and environment protection.

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Jun 2025
Accepted
25 Sep 2025
First published
25 Sep 2025

Nanoscale, 2025, Accepted Manuscript

Single-atom iron nanozyme with oxidase-like activity for ultrasensitive polyphenol detection

Y. Hong, Z. Gao, Z. Chen, Q. Li, J. Cui and M. Dong, Nanoscale, 2025, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D5NR02482J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements