Plasmon-Enhanced Peroxidase-like Activity of Nitrogen-Doped Graphdiyne Oxide Quantum Dots/Gold–Silver Nanocage Heterostructures for Antimicrobial Applications
Zhiling Zhu, Hongyang Luo, Tao Wang, Chaohui Zhang, Manman Liang, Dongqin Yang, Manhong Liu, William W. Yu, Qiang Bai, Lina Wang, Ning Sui
Abstract
Plasmon stimulation is an intriguing method to modulate the enzyme-mimic functions of nanomaterials, while utilization of plasmon excitation remains of low efficiency. Herein, by loading nitrogen-doped graphdiyne quantum dots (N-GDQDs) onto gold–silver nanocages (AuAg NCs), hollow cube-shaped N-GDQDs/AuAg NC heterostructures with strong local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) response in the near-infrared (NIR) region are reported. This nanozyme can concurrently harvest LSPR-induced hot carriers and produce photothermal effects, resulting in a significantly enhanced peroxidase-like activity upon 808 nm irradiation. Both experimental data and theoretical calculations reveal that the remarkable catalytic performance of N-GDQDs/AuAg NCs results from the narrow band gap semiconductor characteristics of N-GDQDs, LSPR effect of AuAg NCs, and fast interfacial electron transfer dynamics. Moreover, this nanozyme is demonstrated to achieve >99.999% antibacterial efficiency against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), S. aureus, and Escherichia coli in 10 min in vitro and in vivo. This study not only sheds light on the mechanism of the nanozyme/photocatalysis coupling process but also provides a new avenue for rationally designing plasmonic metal/semiconductor-involved nanozymes for synergistic photothermal and photoenhanced nanozyme therapy.