The combination of semiconductor and metal nanocomponents represents an effective way for design of photocatalysts with high efficiency. It is expected that this strategy can be applied to design photo-regulated nanozymes. To prove this concept, BiOBr/PtRu hybrid nanostructures have been fabricated by depositing PtRu nanoparticles on BiOBr nanosheets through a templating co-reduction method. The formation of BiOBr/PtRu hybrid nanostructures was confirmed by TEM, XRD and XPS. BiOBr/PtRu hybrid nanostructures exhibited excellent enzyme-like activities (peroxidase, oxidase, ferroxidase) as well as the ability to scavenge DPPH free radicals. When exposed to light irradiation (λ > 420 nm), it was found that BiOBr/PtRu hybrid nanostructures not only exhibit improved photocatalytic degradation, but also exhibit enhanced peroxidase- and oxidase-like activity. Due to the photocatalytic effect and the higher charge separation and utilization efficiency caused by heterojunctions, a light-enhanced enzyme-like activity mechanism was proposed. These results will be of value to design high efficiency nanozymes using light for biological and environmental applications.
Keywords: BiOBr; Nanozymes; PtRu; hybrid nanostructures; photocatalytic.