Synergistic Lewis acid-base sites of ultrathin porous Co_(3)O_(4)nanosheets with enhanced peroxidase-like activity

Surface Lewis acid-base sites in crystal structure may influence the physicochemical properties and the catalytic performances in nanozymes.Understanding the synergistic effect mechanism of Co_(3)O_(4)nanozymes towards substances(3,3’,5,5’-tetramethylbenzidine(TMB)and hydrogen peroxide(H2O2))induced by surface Lewis acid-base sites is important to enhance the efficiency for peroxidase-like reaction.Herein,ultrathin porous Co_(3)O_(4)nanosheets with abundant Lewis acid-base sites were prepared by sodium borohydride(NaBH4)reduction treatment,which exhibited high-efficiency peroxidase-like activity compared with original Co_(3)O_(4)nanosheets.The Lewis acid-base sites for ultrathin porous Co_(3)O_(4)nanosheets nanozyme were owing to the coordination unsaturation of Co ions and the formation of defect structure.Ultrathin porous Co_(3)O_(4)nanosheets had 18.26-fold higher catalytic efficiency(1.27×10^(-2)s^(-1)·mM^(-1))than that of original Co_(3)O_(4)(6.95×10^(-4)s^(-1)·mM^(-1))in oxidizing TMB substrate.The synergistic effect of surface acid and base sites can enhance the interfacial electron transfer process of Co_(3)O_(4)nanosheets,which can be a favor of absorption substrates and the generation of reactive intermediates such as radicals.Furthermore,the limit of detection of hydroquinol was 0.58μM for ultrathin porous Co_(3)O_(4)nanosheets,965-fold lower than original Co_(3)O_(4)(560μM).Besides,the linear range of ultrathin porous Co_(3)O_(4)nanosheets was widely with the concentration of 5.0-1,000μM.Colorimetric detection of hydroquinol by agarose-based hydrogel membrane was provided based on excellent peroxidase-like properties.This study provided insights into designing high-performance nanozymes for peroxidase-like catalysis via a strategy of solid surface acid-base sites engineering.