Porous Au@Pt nanoparticles with superior peroxidase-like activity for colorimetric detection of spike protein of SARS-CoV-2

The development of colorimetric assays for rapid and accurate diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is of practical importance for point-of-care (POC) testing. Here we report the colorimetric detection of spike (S1) protein of SARS-CoV-2 based on excellent peroxidase-like activity of Au@Pt nanoparticles, with merits of rapidness, easy operation, and high sensitivity. The Au@Pt NPs were fabricated by a facile seed mediated growth approach, in which spherical Au NPs were premade as seeds, followed by the Pt growth on Au seeds, producing uniform, monodispersed and porous Au@Pt core-shell NPs. The as-obtained Au@Pt NPs showed a remarkable enhancement in the peroxidase-mimic catalysis, which well abided by the typical Michaelis-Menten theory. The enhanced catalysis of Au@Pt NPs was ascribed to the porous nanostructure and formed electron-rich Pt shells, which enabled the catalytic pathway to switch from hydroxyl radical generation to electron transfer process. On a basis of these findings, a colorimetric assay of spike (S1) protein of SARS-CoV-2 was established, with a linear detection range of 10-100 ng mL-1 of protein concentration and a low limit of detection (LOD) of 11 ng mL-1. The work presents a novel strat-egy for diagnosis of COVID-19 based on metallic nanozyme-catalysis. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel colorimetric assay for detecting the spike (S1) protein of SARS-CoV-2 was developed based on the peroxidase-like activity of Au@Pt nanoparticles, showing rapidness, easy operation, and high sensitivity. The Au@Pt nanoparticles were fabricated using a seed-mediated growth approach, resulting in enhanced catalysis attributed to the porous nanostructure and electron-rich Pt shells, enabling a switch in the catalytic pathway.