Preparing Selective Nanozymes by Molecular Imprinting

Recently, many nanomaterials such as Fe3O4, CeO2, and gold nanoparticles have been reported to have enzyme-like activities and they are called nanozymes. Although these nanozymes have oxidase or peroxidase-like activities, they can catalyze the oxidation of many substrates and thus lack the specificity expected for enzymes. The selectivity of nanozymes can be significantly enhanced up to 100-fold by coating them with a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) layer. Since MIP creates specific binding pockets for the imprinted substrate, the imprinted molecules can be enriched, selectively access the catalytic core, and be oxidized, while other substrates are blocked from accessing the nanozyme surface. In this chapter, the detailed protocol for the preparation of the MIP-coated Fe3O4 peroxidase-mimicking nanozymes is described. In addition, some procedures needing special attention are described in detail, which will facilitate the applications of MIP-coated nanozymes in analytical, biomedical, and environmental fields.