pH-Switchable phenylalanine-templated copper nanoclusters: CO<sub>2</sub> probing and efficient peroxidase mimicking activity
Shashi Shekhar, R. H. Sarker, Paritosh Mahato, Sameeksha Agrawal, Saptarshi Mukherjee
Abstract
in the form of bicarbonate ions has been achieved through the enhancement of the PL intensity, wherein a very low value of the limit of detection (LOD) of ∼60 μM was obtained. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the CuNCs act as an efficient bio-catalyst with peroxidase mimicking enzymatic activity which has been investigated using OPD as a substrate under physiological conditions (pH ∼7.4 and temperature ∼37 °C). The mechanistic investigations confirmed that the oxidation of OPD mainly proceeds through the generation of hydroxyl radicals (˙OH). We hope the present investigations shed light on a multidimensional aspect of MNCs and uncover an upsurging recent interest in MNCs to act as an artificial enzyme.