N,N'-Dicarboxy methyl perylene diimide-coated CeO2 nanorods (PDI/CeO2 NR) were synthesized via an ultrasonic-assisted method. PDI/CeO2 exhibits the superb mimic peroxidase functions confirmed by the catalyzed oxidation of TMB by hydrogen peroxide in less than 60 s along with color transformation from colorless to blue. The catalytic mechanism was confirmed to be an electronic transfer mechanism by fluorescence experiment. Thus, a visual colorimetric sensor was constructed for hydrogen peroxide detection with a low detection limit (LOD = 2.23 μM). Comparing the inhibition effects of l-cysteine (Cys), ascorbic acid (AA) and glutathione (GSH) on the catalytic oxidation of TMB, it can be found that they possessed different types of inhibition on the oxidation of TMB by H2O2 using PDI/CeO2, and AA has better antioxidant effect, followed by Cys and GSH. On the basis of the excellent antioxidant effect of AA, a low-cost colorimetric sensor was also used to detect AA, and a lower LOD value (0.68 μM) was obtained in the linear range of 5.0-30 μM.
Keywords: antioxidants; biodetection; colorimetric sensor; composite nanorods; peroxidase mimics.