The peroxidase/catalase-like activities of MFe₂O₄ (M=Mg, Ni, Cu) MNPs and their application in colorimetric biosensing of glucose.

MFe2O4 (M=Mg, Ni, Cu) magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were found to have catalytic activities similar to those of biological enzymes such as catalase and peroxidase. These nanomaterials, as bifunctional catalase/peroxidases (KatGs), not only could catalyze H2O2 to produce hydroxyl radicals, which oxidized peroxidase substrate to produce color, but also could catalyze the decomposition reaction of H2O2 into water and oxygen directly in the same condition through the catalase-like activity. And it was also found that the amount of generated hydroxyl radicals and oxygen was related to the concentration of MFe2O4 (M=Mg, Ni, Cu) MNPs. The peroxidase-like catalytic behavior of MFe2O4 MNPs was analyzed in detail. Under the optimized conditions, NiFe2O4 MNPs were used as a colorimetric biosensor for the detection of 9.4×10(-7)-2.5×10(-5) mol L(-1) glucose with a limit of detection (LOD) of 4.5×10(-7) mol L(-1). The sensor was successfully applied to glucose detection in urine sample.