Cooperatively controlling the enzyme mimicking Pt nanomaterials with nucleotides and solvents

Distinct Pt nanozymes can be cooperatively tuned by natural nucleotides and solvents. Ethylene glycol assists the nucleotide-mediated reduction of Pt(II) precursors together with the growth of Pt nanocrystals. The nanocrystals possess high proportion of metallic Pt 0 atoms, thereby contributing to considerable oxidase- and peroxidase-like activities. Nevertheless, ultrasmall Pt nanoclusters synthesized in water display cationic features on nanocluster surface, showing highly enzymatic selectivity toward peroxidase. The Pt nanocrystals also display laccase mimicking activity, which can be harnessed for colorimetric assay of epinephrine with high sensitivity. The linear detection range lies in 4.55−172.98 μM with the limit of detection of 0.66 μM. This work proposes a facile and effective methodology to tune both the catalytic activity and the enzymatic selectivity of metal nanozymes.