Current research progress on laccase-like nanomaterials

Natural laccase exhibits a broad substrate scope and only water is a by-product of its action, making it an environmentally friendly enzyme. It has good application prospects in food engineering, paper making, textiles, environmental pollutant treatment, and biosensing. However, natural laccase often has inherent defects like a high price, poor stability, and difficulty of being recycled. Nanomaterials with laccase-like activity have been rapidly developed in recent years to overcome these drawbacks. In comparison with laccase, nanozymes possess the benefits of being low price, mass-produced, having long-term storage, high stability, and adjustable activity. This review first briefly introduces the catalytic mechanism and the application of laccase, hoping to stimulate future research ideas for laccase mimics and expand its application fields. Then, nanomaterials with laccase activity are reviewed, and their application directions are introduced. Finally, it summarizes the current challenges of laccase-mimicking enzymes and proposes the development direction of future research.