Dong Hoon Lee1,Mohammed Kamruzzaman1
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign1
Dong Hoon Lee1,Mohammed Kamruzzaman1
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign1
Nanozyme has recently expanded applications in the field of food and agricultural science, offering the potential to enhance food safety by detecting toxic molecules. However, most of the nanozymes are derived from conventional chemistry and material science such as MOF/metal-based NP. These nanozymes encounter challenges related to their intrinsic toxicity and low-cost effectiveness when applied in food and agriculture. Thus, novel nanozymes that are highly suitable for food and agriculture for future applications are desired.<br/><br/>To address this need, we have introduced a novel type of nanozyme, called OC nanozymes, which are food and agriculture friendly. These nanozymes are composed of polymer and organic compounds and exhibit decent peroxidase-like catalytic activity. The customized, chelation-driven self-assembled particle generation process was contrived to provide spherical-shaped nanozymes containing partially mimicked cofactor sites (e.g., Fe-N or Fe-O) of the natural enzyme without using the conventional engineering process, including pyrolysis, organic solvent, and ionic gelation. In contrast to conventional nanozymes, OC nanozymes exhibit decent eco-compatibility, and cost effectiveness with satisfactory catalytic performance (e.g., Km = at least 0.074mM/H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>). These nanozymes, when integrated with colorimetric sensing platforms, enable rapid and selective detection of antioxidant (LOD = at least 7.27 μM ), and toxic herbicide detection(LOD =10 pg mL<sup>-1</sup>) within 7 minutes. Additionally, some OC nanozymes are designed to degrade at a moderate temperature (around 45 Celsius) after use, which provides benefits for further waste management issues. We envision that OC nanozymes can be utilized in further practical food applications.