Phosphorene-Based Nanocomposite Nanozyme for Sensitive Colorimetric and Fluorescence Sensing Detection of Tuberculosis Drugs Rifampicin and Isoniazid

A significant interest in monoelemental two-dimensional (2D) materials is growing due to their unique properties, which are useful for a variety of applications. Phosphorene is a monoelemental 2D material, which is one of the most efficient of all. Herein, we developed a phosphorene-based nanocomposite using a simple hydrothermal approach with cysteine and NiO nanoparticles (PhCN). After that, we evaluated the peroxidase-mimicking activity (PMA) of PhCN nanocomposite using the chromogenic substrate 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine at optimum pH, temperature, and different volumes of the synthesized material. Based on PMA, the synthesized nanozyme was used to develop a colorimetric sensing platform for the detection of rifampicin (RFP) and isoniazid (ISN). For aqueous media, the obtained limits of detection (LODs) were 7.879 and 28.923 nM for RFP and ISN, respectively. Additionally, we have developed a fluorescence-based platform for detecting the same. In the case of RFP, the obtained LOD was 11.64 nM, and for ISN, it was about 6.8 nM. Therefore, the colorimetric and fluorescence-based sensing platforms can be considered as a sensitive and selective approach for detecting RFP and ISN.