Spatial engineering of single-atom Fe adjacent to Cu-assisted nanozymes for biomimetic O2 activation
Ying Wang, Vinod K. Paidi, Weizhen Wang, Yong Wang, Guangri Jia, Tingyu Yan, Xiaoqiang Cui, Songhua Cai, Jingxiang Zhao, Kug‐Seung Lee, Lawrence Yoon Suk Lee, Kwok‐Yin Wong
Abstract
Abstract The precise design of single-atom nanozymes (SAzymes) and understanding of their biocatalytic mechanisms hold great promise for developing ideal bio-enzyme substitutes. While considerable efforts have been directed towards mimicking partial bio-inspired structures, the integration of heterogeneous SAzymes configurations and homogeneous enzyme-like mechanism remains an enormous challenge. Here, we show a spatial engineering strategy to fabricate dual-sites SAzymes with atomic Fe active center and adjacent Cu sites. Compared to planar Fe–Cu dual-atomic sites, vertically stacked Fe–Cu geometry in FePc@2D-Cu–N–C possesses highly optimized scaffolds, favorable substrate affinity, and fast electron transfer. These characteristics of FePc@2D-Cu–N–C SAzyme induces biomimetic O 2 activation through homogenous enzymatic pathway, resembling functional and mechanistic similarity to natural cytochrome c oxidase. Furthermore, it presents an appealing alternative of cytochrome P450 3A4 for drug metabolism and drug–drug interaction. These findings are expected to deepen the fundamental understanding of atomic-level design in next-generation bio-inspired nanozymes.