Spatial Position Regulation of Cu Single Atom Site Realizes Efficient Nanozyme Photocatalytic Bactericidal Activity.

Recently, single-atom nanozymes have made significant progress in the fields of sterilization and treatment, but their catalytic performance as substitutes for natural enzymes and drugs are far from satisfactory. Here, we report a method to improve enzyme activity by adjusting the spatial position of a single-atom site on the nanoplatforms. We synthesized two types of Cu single atom site nanozymes in the interlayer (CuL/PHI) and in-plane (CuP/PHI) of poly (heptazine imide) (PHI) through different synthesis pathways. Experimental and theoretical analysis indicates that the interlayer position of PHI can effectively adjust the coordination number, coordination bond length, and electronic structure of Cu single atoms compared to the in-plane position, thereby promoting photoinduced electron migration and O2 activation, enabling effective generate reactive oxygen species. Under visible light irradiation, the photocatalytic bactericidal activity of CuL/PHI against aureus was nearly 100%, achieving the same antibacterial effect as antibiotics, after 10 minutes of low-dose light exposure and 2 hours of incubation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.