Axially Coordinated Gold Nanoclusters Tailoring Fe-N-C Nanozymes for Enhanced Oxidase-Like Specificity and Activity

Metal-organic frameworks (MOF) derived nitrogen-doped carbon-supported monodisperse Fe (Fe-N-C) catalysts are intensively studied, but great challenges remain in understanding the relationship between the coordination structure and the performance of Fe-N-C nanozymes. Herein, a novel nanocluster ligand-bridging strategy is proposed for constructing Fe-S1N4 structures with axially coordinated S and Au nanoclusters on ZIF-8 derived Fe-N-C (labeled Aux/Fe-S1N4-C). The axial Au nanoclusters facilitate electron transfer to Fe active sites, utilizing the bridging ligand S as a medium, thereby enhancing the oxygen adsorption capacity of composite nanozymes. Compared to Fe-N-C, Aux/Fe-S1N4-C exhibits high oxidase-like specificity and activity, and holds great potential for detecting acetylcholinesterase activity with a detection limit of 5.1 mu U mL-1, surpassing most reported nanozymes. A novel nanocluster ligand-bridging strategy is proposed to construct Fe-S1N4 structure with axially coordinated S and Au nanoclusters on ZIF-8 derived Fe-N-C. This well-designed Aux/Fe-S1N4-C nanozyme exhibit high oxidase-like activity and specificity due to its better oxygen adsorption capacity.image