Polystyrene@Au@prussian blue nanocomposites with enzyme-like activity and their application in glucose detection

Prussian blue (PB) and gold modified polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites (PS@Au@PB) were synthesized and characterized by TEM, SEM, FTIR, UV–vis and EDS. The formation mechanism of PB induced by gold nanoparticles on PS nanospheres was proposed. The peroxidase-like and catalase-like activities of the synthesized nanocomposites were investigated. Peroxidase-like activity was found to follow Michaelis–Menten kinetics. The calculated kinetic parameters indicated that the PS@Au@PB nanocomposites possess strong affinity with the substrates and high catalytic activity. A sensitive method for glucose detection was developed using glucose oxidase (GO x ) and PS@Au@PB nanocomposites. The detection limit for glucose was determined to be as low as 3.9   μM and the linear range was from 15.6 to 250.0   μM. It suggests that PS@Au@PB nanocomposites can serve as a useful reagent in some biological detections.