Understanding the formation of CuS concave superstructures with peroxidase-like activity

Nanoscale. 2012 Jun 7;4(11):3501-6. doi: 10.1039/c2nr30310h. Epub 2012 May 2.

Abstract

Copper sulfide (CuS) concave polyhedral superstructures (CPSs) have been successfully prepared in an ethanolic solution by a simple solvothermal reaction without the use of surfactants or templates. Two typical well defined, high symmetry CuS concave polyhedrons, forming a concave truncated cuboctahedron and icosahedron were prepared. The effect of the reaction time, temperature and different Cu ion and sulfur sources on the formation of CuS CPSs were investigated and a possible formation mechanism was proposed and discussed based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. More importantly, we found, for the first time, that the CuS CPSs exhibit intrinsic peroxidase-like activity, as they can quickly catalyze the oxidation of typical horseradish peroxidase (HRP) substrates, 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and o-phenylenediamine (OPD), in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. In addition to the recent discoveries regarding peroxidase mimetics on Fe(3)O(4) NPs and carbon nanostructures, our findings suggest a new kind of candidate for peroxidase mimics. This may open up a new application field of CuS micro-nano structures in biodetection, biocatalysis and environmental monitoring.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Benzidines / chemistry
  • Biomimetic Materials / chemistry
  • Biomimetic Materials / metabolism*
  • Catalysis
  • Copper / chemistry*
  • Ferrosoferric Oxide / chemistry
  • Horseradish Peroxidase / chemistry
  • Horseradish Peroxidase / metabolism
  • Hydrogen Peroxide / chemistry
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Peroxidase / metabolism*

Substances

  • Benzidines
  • 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine
  • Copper
  • Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Horseradish Peroxidase
  • Peroxidase
  • cupric sulfide
  • Ferrosoferric Oxide