Layered vanadium(IV) disulfide nanosheets as a peroxidase-like nanozyme for colorimetric detection of glucose

The authors have discovered that vanadium disulfide (VS2) nanosheets, synthesized by a hydrothermal method, exert stable peroxidase-like activity. The catalytic activity, with H2O2 as a cosubstrate, follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics and varies with temperature, pH value and H2O2 concentration. Two-dimensional VS2 sheets acting as peroxidase (POx) mimics can replace horseradish peroxidase due to their availability, robustness, and reusability. The POx-like activity of VS2 sheets was exploited to design a colorimetric glucose assay by using 3,3', 5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine as a substrate and by working at an analytical wavelength of 652 nm. The assay covers the 5 to 250 mu M glucose concentration range with a 1.5 mu M detection limit. It was applied to the analysis of glucose in fruit juice. In our perception, the peroxidase-like nanozyme out of the family of transition metal dichalcogenides presented here has a wide scope in that it may stimulate promising biocatalytic applications in biotechnology and analytical chemistry.