Graphene-supported biomimetic catalysts with synergistic effect of adsorption and degradation for efficient dye capture and removal

Design and development of iron porphyrin-based artificial enzymes system have been attracting a lot of attention. Herein, without any toxic reductant and harsh processing, we present a facile one-pot method to fabricate bifunctional catalytic nanocomposites consisting of graphene and hemin by using vitamin C as a mild reduction reagent. The presence of graphene helps the formation of a high degree of highly active and stable hemin on the graphene surface in a monomeric form through their pi-pi stacking interaction. As a result, such nanocomposites possess a superior adsorption capacity and intrinsic peroxidase-like catalytic activity. Moreover, by the combination of their dye adsorption ability, RGO-hemin nanocomposites can serve as a suitable candidate for efficient capture and removal of dyes via a synergistic effect. Our findings may pave the way to apply graphene-supported artificial enzymes in a variety of fields, such as environmental chemistry, bionics, medicine, and biotechnology. (C) 2019 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.