Metal nanozymes with multiple catalytic activities: regulating strategies and biological applications

Nanozymes with high enzyme-like catalytic activity have been recognized as promising alternatives for nature enzymes and exhibit great potentials in biodetection, disease diagnosis and treatment. Metal nanozyme is an important member of the nanozyme family. When metal nanozymes are controllably regulated by compositions, sizes, morphologies, crystal defects, surface states or stimulated by diversified external fields, they will acquire unique geometric and electronic structures and exhibit various physical/chemical properties in catalytic behaviors. Although significant progress has been made in metal nanozymes, there is still large space for further improving the catalytic efficiency, developing the synthetic process for large-scale production, facilitating the clinical transformation and exploring the untapped applications. Directing at these issues, rational design of novel nanozymes for better applications and deeper understanding of catalytic mechanisms are urgently required. Accordingly, this review focuses on the recent advances on regulating strategies, catalytic mechanisms and relevant biological applications of metal nanozymes with multiple enzyme-like performance. Furthermore, future perspectives are outlooked to inspire more attention and efforts on this interesting multi-disciplinary field. Graphical abstract