Colorimetric method transforms into highly sensitive homogeneous voltammetric sensing strategy for mercury ion based on mercury-stimulated Ti3C2Tx MXene nanoribbons@gold nanozyme activity

Nanozymes were emerged as the next generation of enzyme-mimics which exhibit great applications in various fields, but there is rarely report in the electrochemical detection of heavy metal ions. In this work, Ti(3)C(2)Tx MXene nanoribbons@gold (Ti(3)C(2)Tx MNR@Au) nanohybrid was prepared firstly via a simple self-reduction process and its nanozyme activity was studied. The results showed the peroxidase-like activity of bare Ti(3)C(2)Tx MNR@Au is extremely weak, while in the presence of Hg2+, the related nanozyme activity is stimulated and improved remarkably, which can easily catalyze oxidation of several colorless substrates (e.g., o-phenylenediamine) to form colored products. Interestingly, the product of o-phenylenediamine exhibits a strong reduction current which is considerably sensitive to the Hg2+ concentration. Based on this phenomenon, an innovative and highly sensitive homogeneous voltammetric (HVC) sensing strategy was then proposed to detect Hg2+ via transforming the colorimetric method into electrochemistry since it can exhibit several unique advantages (e.g., rapid responsiveness, high sensitivity and quantificational). Compared to the conventional electrochemical sensing methods for Hg2+, the designed HVC strategy can avoid the modification processes of electrode coupled with enhanced sensing performances. Therefore, we expect the as-proposed nanozyme-based HVC sensing strategy provides a new development direction for detecting Hg2+ and other heavy metals.

Automated summary

A Ti(3)C(2)Tx MXene nanoribbons@gold (Ti(3)C(2)Tx MNR@Au) nanohybrid was prepared via a self-reduction process and its nanozyme activity was studied. The nanozyme activity of Ti(3)C(2)Tx MNR@Au was weak, but in the presence of Hg2+, it was significantly improved. Based on this, a highly sensitive homogeneous voltammetric (HVC) sensing strategy was proposed for detecting Hg2+.