Prussian blue: from advanced electrocatalyst to nanozymes defeating natural enzyme

The pathway from the advanced electrocatalyst to nanozymes defeating natural enzyme is reviewed. Prussian blue, being the most advantageous electrocatalyst for hydrogen peroxide reduction, is obviously the best candidate for mimicking peroxidase activity. Indeed, catalytically synthesized Prussian blue nanoparticles are characterized by the catalytic rate constants, which are significantly (up to 4 orders of magnitude) higher than for enzyme peroxidase. Displaying in addition the enzymatic specificity in terms of an absence of oxidase-like activity, catalytically synthesized Prussian blue nanoparticles can be referred to as nanozymes. The latter provide the most versatile method for surface covering with the electrocatalyst, allowing to modify non-traditional materials like boron-doped diamond. For stabilization, Prussian blue core can be covered with nickel hexacyanoferrate shell; the resulting core–shell nanozymes still defeat natural enzyme in terms of activity. Discovering the catalytic pathway of nanozymes “artificial peroxidase” action, we have found the novel advantage of nanozymes over the corresponding biological catalysts: their dramatically (100 times) improved bimolecular rate constants.Graphical abstract