Nanozymes
are a kind of nanomaterial mimicking enzyme catalytic
activity, which has aroused extensive interest in the fields of biosensors,
biomedicine, and climate and ecosystems management. However, due to
the complexity of structures and composition of nanozymes, atomic
scale active centers have been extensively investigated, which helps
with in-depth understanding of the nature of the biocatalysis. Single
atom nanozymes (SANs) cannot only significantly enhance the activity
of nanozymes but also effectively improve the selectivity of nanozymes
owing to the characteristics of simple and adjustable coordination
environment and have been becoming the brightest star in the nanozyme
spectrum. The SANs based sensors have also been widely investigated
due to their definite structural features, which can be helpful to
study the catalytic mechanism and provide ways to improve catalytic
activity. This perspective presents a comprehensive understanding
on the advances and challenges on SANs based sensors. The catalytic
mechanisms of SANs and then the sensing application from the perspectives
of sensing technology and sensor construction are thoroughly analyzed.
Finally, the major challenges, potential future research directions,
and prospects for further research on SANs based sensors are also
proposed.
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