Nano Zr/Cu oxide modified poly-β-cyclodextrin peroxidase mimic for potable discrimination of aminophenol isomers and catalytic degradation of methyl red.

To high-performance recognize or degrade o/p-aminophenol and methyl red, nano Zr/Cu oxide decorated poly-β-cyclodextrin (CuO/ZrO2@p-β-CD) was developed under microwave-assisted conditions. Fibrous CuO/ZrO2@p-β-CD expressed synergistic peroxidase-like activity to degrade >90.4 % methyl red in the air. When applied to accelerate the oxidization of 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethyl benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) ammonium salt (ABTS), Km/Vmax could be 0.053 mM/2.92 × 10-8 M/s. Trace aminophenol isomers (o-AP and m-AP) could exclusively alter CuO/ZrO2@p-β-CD-ABTS from green to colorless or to purple-red with remarkable time-resolved effect. Under the optimized conditions, CuO/ZrO2@p-β-CD was successfully applied for intelligent monitoring or degradation o-AP, m-AP or methyl red in practice with the help of a smartphone. The recoveries for UV-vis spectral/RGB detection of o-AP and m-AP could reach 100.0 % ~ 102.9 %/98.0 % ~ 102.5 % and 97.8 % ~ 101.1 %/96.8 % ~ 103.33 %. The catalytic detection or quantitative degradation mechanisms were investigated in detail. This work will provide a potential for quantitative monitoring or degradation of organic pollutions.