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Review Article

Recent progress in single-atom nanozymes research

Bing Jiang, Zhanjun Guo( ), Minmin Liang( )
Experimental Center of Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
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Graphical Abstract

Single-atom nanozymes with well-defined atomic structure and electronic coordination environments have been widely developed as favorable alternatives to natural enzymes by mimicking the highly evolved catalytic sites of natural enzymes at the atomic level.

Abstract

Single-atom nanozyme (SAzyme) is the hot topic of the current nanozyme research. Its intrinsic properties, such as high activity, stability, and low cost, present great substitutes to natural enzymes. Moreover, its fundamental characteristics, i.e., maximized atom utilizations and well-defined geometric and electronic structures, lead to higher catalytic activities and specificity than traditional nanozymes. SAzymes have been applied in many biomedical areas, such as anti-tumor therapy, biosensing, antibiosis, and anti-oxidation therapy. Here, we will discuss a series of representative examples of SAzymes categorized by their biomedical applications in this review. In the end, we will address the future opportunities and challenges SAzymes facing in their designs and applications.

Keywords

single-atom nanozymesnatural enzymesenzyme-like activitybiomedical applications

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Nano Research
Volume 16 Issue 2,
February 2023
Pages 1878-1889
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-022-4856-7
Cite this article:
Jiang B, Guo Z, Liang M. Recent progress in single-atom nanozymes research. Nano Research, 2023, 16(2): 1878-1889. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4856-7
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Received: 02 July 2022
Revised: 29 July 2022
Accepted: 02 August 2022
Published: 12 September 2022
© Tsinghua University Press 2022
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