Meso-tetrakis(4-chlorophenyl)porphyrin functionalized CuFe2O4/SiO2 nanocomposites with enhanced peroxidase-like activity conveniently using for visual biosensing at room temperature

Abstract Porphyrins modified inorganic semiconductors have been paid more attention as a platform in nanomaterials, due to the fast electronic transfer from synergistic effect. Meso-tetrakis(4-chlorophenyl)porphyrin functionalized CuFe 2 O 4 /SiO 2 nanocomposites (TClPP-CuFe 2 O 4 /SiO 2 ) were prepared by a simple method and found to exhibit the higher peroxidase-like activity, compared with that of CuFe 2 O 4 /SiO 2 without porphyrin. The TClPP-CuFe 2 O 4 /SiO 2 nanocomposites can effectively catalyze the oxidation of the peroxidase substrate 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) by H 2 O 2 to give a blue product (oxTMB) only in 3 min, which can be conveniently distinguished by the naked eye. Notably, the optimal response temperature was 25 °C (room temperature), lower than that of most of nanomaterials as peroxidase mimics, which is in favor of practical application. Based on the fast response as well as the peroxidase activity of TClPP-CuFe 2 O 4 /SiO 2 , a simple, sensitive, selective, colorimetric method was proposed for detection of H 2 O 2 over a range of 8 to 80 μM with a detection limit of 1.02 μM. Furthermore, the system including TClPP-CuFe 2 O 4 /SiO 2 , glucose oxidase(GOx) and the substrate (TMB), provided a colorimetric sensor for glucose in the range of 5 - 100 μM with a detection Limit of 3.62 μM.