Heteroatom-doped nanozyme progress and perspectives: From synthesis strategies to biomedical applications

Nanozymes with enzyme-like catalytic performances have served as ideal surrogates for nature enzymes in diverse applications due to their low cost and excellent catalytic stability in harsh environments. However, the nanozymes' intrinsic catalytic activity remains poor compared to their counterpart natural enzymes, limiting their broader development. To date, extensive efforts have been made to improve nanozyme catalytic properties, including activity modulation strategies focused on size, morphology, and facet regulation; ligand modification regulation; heteroatom doping regulation; composition regulation; and external regulation. The heteroatom doping strategy has proven to be an effective method, accelerating electron transfer to improve nanozyme mimic activity. Herein, we summarize current progress on heteroatom-doped nanozymes for biomedical applications. Moreover, we discuss their synthesis methods and influencing factors. Finally, we discuss current challenges and future perspectives for heteroatom-doped nanozymes to highlight some novel and advanced heteroatom-doped nanozymes that establish a bridge between heteroatom-doped nanozymes and natural enzymes for preclinical translations.