The
development of artificial nanozymes with superior catalytic
performance and excellent stability has been a long-standing objective
for chemists. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) is one of the most
important bioanalytical measures of oxidative stress in the body.
The present work aims to develop a smartphone-assisted visual detection
sensor using cerium-doped strontium-based metal–organic frameworks
(Ce-SrMOFs) as peroxidase-like nanozymes for the rapid, low-cost,
on-site detection of TAC. The pristine SrMOF functioned as a peroxidase
nanozyme, and its enzymatic activity was enhanced after doping it
with Ce(IV) ions because of the multivalent nature and synergistic
impact of the heteroatoms. The Ce-SrMOFs were sensitive to the single
electron transfer and hydrogen atom transfer processes, which implies
that the Ce-SrMOFs can serve as an ideal nanozyme candidate for TAC
analysis. The investigated mechanism revealed that •OH is the
most active oxygen species for the peroxidase-like activity. The Ce-SrMOFs
exhibited a strong affinity for 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine
(TMB) and H2O2, with K
m values of 0.082 and 0.427 mM, which are 5.29- and 8.67-fold
lower than those of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), respectively. The
Ce-SrMOFs were used for the detection of ascorbic acid, cysteine,
and glutathione, with limits of detection of 44, 53, and 512 nM, respectively.
The proposed method proved effective in measuring the TAC in saliva
samples from lung cancer patients, thereby yielding results with satisfactory
precision and accuracy.