Multifunctional glucose-powered nanomotors with robust dual enzyme mimic activities

Catalytic micro-/nanomotors (MNMs) that use H 2 O 2 as fuel to generate O 2 bubbles for propulsion hold great promise for exciting applications in the biological and environmental fields. However, it is still a challenge to alleviate or avoid the negative impact of H 2 O 2 on the ecological environment of water body. Herein, a novel glucose-driven nanomotor with robust dual enzyme-like activities was prepared by precisely controlling the phase composition and enzyme immobilization to construct a 3D hierarchical structure integrating Fe-MOF, MnO 2 and glucose oxidase (GOx) on halloysite nanotube (HNTs) support. Embedding GOx into the framework of Fe-MOF by a simple one-step coprecipitation process allowed the in-situ generation of H 2 O 2 in the presence of glucose. Such H 2 O 2 could be further decomposed to O 2 bubbles to drive nanomotors. Meanwhile, O 2 bubbles and residual H 2 O 2 could convert to active species superoxide radical (O 2 • − ) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) due to the high peroxidase/oxidase-like activities of Fe-MOF/MnO 2 in nanomotors. As a proof of concept, the as-synthesized nanomotors could realize sensitively colorimetric detection of glutathione (GSH) with a detection limit of 9.3 × 10 −8 M. In particular, the nanomotors could also rapidly degrade tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) under neutral conditions without additional H 2 O 2 . It is envisioned that the new strategy that combines strong enzyme-like activity with enhanced autonomous motion can promote the nanomotors efficiency for biomolecular sensing and environmental remediation.