Construction of extracellular peptide laccase-mimic nanozyme for the detection and degradation of phenols pollutants

The search for efficient peptide ligands to boost the electron transfer from the metal center and enhance the activity of nano mimetic laccase has become a hot research topic. This study presents, an electrochemically active extracellular peptide ligand for the copper-based nanozyme (EP-Cu) with laccase-like activity. The surface-attached extracellular peptide enables EP-Cu to form a sphere with a porous structure, which shows better acid-base resistances, stability, and recyclability. The electron transfer pathway between the electrochemically active extracellular peptide and Cu provides EP-Cu a similar Km to that of laccase, but a higher Vmax and endows it excellent catalytic activity and substrate versatility. Therefore, the EP-Cu nanozyme prepared with the extracellular peptide have a broad applications prospect in the detection and degradation of phenols.