All-in-one high performance CuO@MnO2 nanozymes: Dual-signal channel 2-mercaptobenzothiazole sensing and device-free oxidative degradation

Abstract

2-Mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) poses an unignorable risk to the aquatic environment and human health. Traditional analysis and prevention methods are unsuitable for broader applications due to their complexity and high-cost instruments. To address these challenges, a novel CuO@MnO2 (CM) nanozyme has been designed to establish absorbance-colorimetric dual-mode sensing and modulate the content of MBT through reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediated oxidative degradation. CM nanozyme exhibits notable catalytic ability with Km 13.6 μM and Vmax 0.763 μM/s. Furthermore, by integrating the generated 1O2, O2•- and •OH in the presence of O2, the absorbance and colorimetric method for MBT sensing is developed, offering a linear detection range from 0.1 to 15 μM through the color change of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and TMBox. Besides, the CM nanozyme can oxidatively decompose MBT, significantly reducing its biotoxicity without needing photocatalytic auxiliary equipment. This work presents a promising MBT detection and degradation approach in future applications.