Hydrothermal LiFePO4 as an Artificial Enzyme to Mimic Peroxidase and Its Applications to Glucose Detection

Abstract Lithium iron phosphate materials as one of the most representative cathode materials for lithium-ion battery were found to possess intrinsic peroxidase-like activity. LiFePO 4 particles were synthesized by a classic hydrothermal process. In this paper, colorless 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine is oxidized to a blue product using hydrothermally synthesized LiFePO 4 particles ( LFP ) as a catalyst with a significant absorption peak at 650 nm. Kinetic assay showed that the catalytic performance was consistent with typical Michaelis–Menten kinetics. As a novel peroxidase mimic material, LFP show the advantages of high catalytic efficiency and favorable stability in aqueous solution compared with natural enzymes, thus providing a simple, inexpensive and fast approach to colorimetric detection of H 2 O 2 and glucose.