Optical biosensor arrays based on nanozymes for environmental monitoring and food safety detection: principles, design, and applications

Typical biosensing platforms are based on the "lock-and-key" approach, providing high specificity and sensitivity for environmental and food safety monitoring. However, they are limited in their ability to detect multiple analytes simultaneously. With the use of pattern identification methods, biosensor arrays can detect faint fluctuations caused by multiple analytes with similar properties in complex systems. As a simple and efficient detection tool, optical biosensor arrays have become crucial for on-site and visible environmental and food safety monitoring. To enhance their practical applications, enzyme-like nanomaterial (nanozyme)-based biosensor arrays have been developed and integrated into optical biosensing platforms, leveraging their exposed active sites and tunable catalytic capabilities. For the development of an optical biosensor array, it is essential to incorporate multiple biosensing elements that can specifically interact with analytes to produce distinct "fingerprint" signals, enabling the differentiation of different targets via pattern identification. This review provides a comprehensive overview of nanozyme-based optical biosensor arrays for environmental and food safety monitoring. It explores the selective approaches of nanozyme-based colorimetric and fluorescent biosensor arrays, compares detection platforms utilizing nanozyme systems, and emphasizes the application of nanozyme-based optical biosensor arrays for environmental and food hazard monitoring. By evaluating current trends and summarizing both prospects and challenges, this review offers valuable guidance for the rational design of unique nanozyme-based optical biosensor arrays.