Facile Synthesis of Co3O4 Nanoparticles and their Biomimetic Activity

Co3O4 nanoparticles with biomimetic activity have been synthesized using inorganic precursor by a simple liquid precipitation method without use of any organic and assisted agents. XRD and IR results showed that the as-prepared product was well-crystalline cubic Co3O4 phase with a lattice constant of a= 8.079 angstrom. The TEM image showed that the obtained Co3O4 product possesses a spherical and rectangular shape with a diameter ranging from 10 to 20nm. The Co3O4 nanoparticles catalyzed oxidation of typical peroxidase substrate (ABTS) and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (TMB) to give the same color changes as microperoxidase -11(MP-11), respectively. And the catalysis by Co3O4 nanoparticles shows typical Michaelis-Menten curves similar to that of MP-11. These results demonstrate that the Co3O4 nanoparticles possess a biomimetic catalysis activity similar to that found in natural enzyme. The kinetic parameters showed Co3O4 nanoparticles had efficient catalytic activity in comparison to MP-11. The easy preparation, good stability and special properties of Co3O4 nanoparticles make them the promising enzyme mimics.