Catalytic activity of catalase-silica nanoparticle hybrids: from ensemble to individual entity activity.

We demonstrate the electrochemical detection and characterization of individual nanoparticle-enzyme hybrids. Silica nanoparticles were functionalized with catalase enzyme and investigated spectroscopically and electrochemically. The catalytic activity of the hybrids towards hydrogen peroxide decomposition was comparable to the activity of a freely diffusing enzyme in solution, exhibiting a Michaelis-Menten constant of KM = 74 mM and a turnover number of kcat = 8 × 107 s-1 per NP. The fast turnover number of the hybrid further enabled the electrochemical detection of individual nanoparticle-enzyme hybrid via a novel method: the hydrogen peroxide substrate was generated at a microelectrode which enabled enzymatic activity exclusively within the diffusion layer of the electrode. The method is the first electrochemical approach for measuring hybrid nanoparticles, at the single entity level.