Engineering a gold nanoparticles-carbon dots nanocomposite with pH-flexibility for monitoring hydrogen peroxide released from living cells

Abstract

Constructing nanozymes with satisfactory catalytic efficiency under physiological conditions is still in great demand for facilitating the advancement of biocatalysts. We herein present a gold nanoparticles-carbon dots nanocomposite (Au-CDs) as an efficient photo-activated nanozyme for monitoring H₂O₂ released from living cells. The integration of CDs with AuNPs remarkably accelerates the catalytic activity at neutral pH via engaging Mn³⁺ ions as the mediators. Meanwhile, the reserved cyclodextrin cavities also enhance the adsorption capacity towards chromogenic substrates through host–guest interactions. Moreover, taking advantage of the inhibitory effect of H₂O₂ on the photo-oxidation ability of the Au-CDs nanocomposite, the Au-CDs based colorimetric method was able to realize in situ assessment of the hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) released from living cells. This method paves a new way to establish a promising biosensing platform for unraveling biological events.