Dendritic silica with carbon dots and gold nanoclusters for dual nanozymes

Many biochemical processes are accomplished by multiple enzymes, so it is important to develop nanocomposite microspheres with multiple enzyme mimetic ability. Here, well-designed nanozyme engineering (termed dSCS-Au NPs) was established for dual nanozymes with dendritic silica spheres (dSs) used as a carrier. The carbon dots (C-dots) were covalently immobilized into the interior surface of amino-terminated dSs, while gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) were linked to the surface of the dSs through activating agents of EDC/NHS. The dSCS-Au NPs exhibited excellent compatibility for two nanozymes, maintaining the superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity of C-dots and improving the horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-like activity of Au NCs. In addition, the HRP-like activity of dSCS-Au NPs could be regulated by changing the amount of loading of Au NCs. It has promising applications in biocatalysis with multiple enzyme reactions in the future.