Tuning the peroxidase mimetic activity of cerium oxide nanozymes using a microwave-assisted rapid fabrication approach

Developing strategies to imitate the catalytic activity of natural enzymes has broad prospects in biomedical applications. While nanozymes have surfaced as a potential contender to surmount the inadequacies of natural enzymes, their stability, availability, catalytic efficiency, and cost-effective production remain challenges. In the current work, we report a rapid, facile, low-cost, and one-pot fabrication approach for synthesizing cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO₂ NPs) by using microwave-assisted synthesis (MAS). Here, the effect of varying the concentration of the reducing agent, along with control over microwave irradiation power, on the physicochemical attributes, size, shape, and morphology of the fabricated CeO₂ NPs is investigated in detail, while discussing the underlying mechanism of action. Benefiting from the superior catalytic efficiency and high surface-to-volume ratio of the fabricated CeO₂ NPs, their augmented peroxidase (POD)-like activity is investigated. Furthermore, this work develops an optimized MAS-based synthesis approach for developing CeO₂ NPs that can mimic the catalytic activity of POD and provides a general clue for optimizing the fabrication of several metal oxide-based nanozymes with enhanced catalytic activities.