High peroxidase-like activity achieved by the synergistic effect in Ag-Cu-CuFe2O4

Nanozymes as peroxidase-like artificial enzymes have been widely used in different fields. However, the low activity of nanozyme resulted in a high concentration of the substrate used. Paramagnetic Ag-Cu-CuFe2O4 was firstly synthesized by a one-step solvothermal method, where Ag+ was facilely reduced to Ag-0 by the solvent (ethylene glycol). The Ag/Cu molar ratio was 0.05. Ag-Cu-CuFe2O4 showed higher peroxidase-like activity than that of Cu-CuFe2O4. Ag-0 in the nanozyme enhanced the redox capacity and accelerated the charge transfer rate. Ag-Cu-CuFe2O4 was used to detect H2O2 with the limit of detection (LOD) as small as 0.37 mu M, which is lower than similar nanozymes.