Carbon Nanodots as Peroxidase Nanozymes for Biosensing

• Main Authors: Bhaskar Garg, Tanuja Bisht
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2016-12-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: carbon nanodots; carbon quantum dots; graphene quantum dots; peroxidases; enzyme mimetics; photoluminescence; biosensors; tetramethylbenzidine; carbon nitride dots
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/21/12/1653

‘Nanozymes’, a term coined by Scrimin, Pasquato, and co-workers to describe nanomaterials with enzyme-like characteristics, represent an exciting and emerging research area in the field of artificial enzymes. Indubitably, the last decade has witnessed substantial advancements in the design of a variety of functional nanoscale materials, including metal oxides and carbon-based nanomaterials, which mimic the structures and functions of naturally occurring enzymes. Among these, carbon nanodots (C-dots) or carbon quantum dots (CQDs) offer huge potential due to their unique properties as compared to natural enzymes and/or classical artificial enzymes. In this mini review, we discuss the peroxidase-like catalytic activities of C-dots and their applications in biosensing. The scope intends to cover not only the C-dots but also graphene quantum dots (GQDs), doped C-dots/GQDs, carbon nitride dots, and C-dots/GQDs nanocomposites. Nevertheless, this mini review is designed to be illustrative, not comprehensive.