Tailoring the Coordination Environment of Fe/Zn-BDC to Boost Peroxidase-like Activity for Highly Selective Detection of PFOS

Abstract

Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid potassium salt (PFOS) residues in ecosystems over long periods are of increasing concern and require a selective and stable optical probe for monitoring. Herein, two functional groups (-F and -NH 2 ) with opposite electronic modulation ability were introduced into Fe/Zn-BDC (denoted as Fe/Zn-BDC-F 4 and Fe/Zn-BDC-NH 2 , respectively) to tailor the coordination environment of the Fe metal center, further regulating the nanozyme activity efficiently. Notably, the peroxidase-like activity is related to the coordination environment of the nanozymes and obeys the following order Fe/Zn-BDC-F 4 > Fe/Zn-BDC > Fe/Zn-BDC-NH 2 . Based on the excellent peroxidase-like activity of Fe/Zn-BDC-F 4 and the characteristics of being rich in F atoms, a rapid, selective, and visible colorimetric method was developed for detecting PFOS with a detection limit of 100 nM. The detection mechanism was attributed to various interaction forces between Fe/Zn-BDC-F 4 and PFOS, including electrostatic interactions, Fe−S interactions, Fe−F bonds, and halogen bonds. This work not only offers new insights into the atomic-scale rational design of highly active nanozymes but also presents a novel approach to detecting PFOS in environmental samples.