Artificial enzyme mimetics is a current research area with much interest from scientific community. Some nanomaterials have been found to possess intrinsic enzyme-mimetic activity. In this study, VOx nanoflakes with mixed-phases are synthesized via a quick and facile one-pot synthetic process and their Fenton reaction and enzyme-mimetic activities have been studied. The results show that obtained VOx is not only highly effective Fenton reagent, completely decomposing Rhodamine B (RhB) within less than 1 min, but also exhibits excellent intrinsic peroxidase-like activity as well as H2O2 catalase-like activity. Our results suggest that this VOx nanomaterial can effectively mimic the enzyme cascade reaction of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). VOx nanoflakes have excellent affinity toward 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) for oxidation and henceforth, it can be used for the colorimetric assay of glucose and H2O2. Moreover, this study indicates that VOx nanoflakes can also be used for the efficient degradation of environmental pollutants.
Keywords: Fenton reaction; VOx; catalase-like activity; dye degradation; enzyme kinetics; hydrogen peroxide decomposition; peroxidase-like activity.