Integrated Design of a Dual-Mode Colorimetric Sensor Driven by Enzyme-like Activity Regulation Strategy for Ultratrace and Portable Detection of Hg2+

Colorimetric analysis for mercury detection has great application potential in the prevention of health damage caused by mercury in the environment. Sensitivity, selectivity, and portability are core competencies of sensors, and concentrating these properties in a single sensor for efficient mercury detection remains a great challenge. Herein, a hollow structure CuS@CuSe@PVP (CCP) was prepared in which the enzyme-like activities could be activated by Hg²⁺ due to the antagonism between Hg and Se, inspiring the establishment of a colorimetric method for Hg²⁺ detection. As for Hg²⁺ detection performance, the linear range (LR) and limit of detection (LOD) were 1-900 and 0.81 nM in the POD-like activity system, respectively. Also, 5-550 nM of LR and 2.34 nM of LOD were achieved in the OD-like activity system. Further, a smartphone-mediated portable RGB nanosensor was fabricated, with a LOD down to 6.65 nM in the POD-like system and 7.97 nM in the OD-like system. Moreover, the excellent self-calibration and satisfactory recovery of 94.77%-106.16% were shown in the application of real water samples analysis. This study represented advanced progress toward emerging applications of nanozymes with multiple enzyme-like activities in heavy metal detection and will accelerate the development of efficient and portable heavy metal sensors.