Recent Advances in the Bioactive Structure and Application of Single-atom Nanozymes

Abstract

Single-atom nanozymes have attracted much attention as a new type of high-performance nanozymes. Compared with other nanozymes, single-atom nanozymes have become the most promising candidates for naturally-occurring enzymes due to their lower cost, better activity, more flexible preparation, higher atom utilization, and flexible compositional and structural modifications. Moreover, the catalytic activity of single-atom nanozymes can be precisely constructed by regulating the active center and synergistic environment. Advanced characterization techniques combined with theoretical calculations can accurately identify the enzyme-like active sites and deeply reveal structure-performance correlation. In this review, the active center and enzyme-like activities of single-atom nanozymes are comprehensively summarized along with the recent research advances in antitumor, neurological disorders, wound healing, and antimicrobial. Finally, we also explore the future opportunities and challenges for single-atom nanozymes in the design and applications.

Keywords

• single-atom nanozymes
• catalytic activity
• active center
• applications