Attapulgite Template for Oxygen Vacancies Boost of Manganese Dioxide Nanozymes With High Oxidase‐Like Activity

Abstract Manganese dioxide (MnO ₂ ) nanozymes have high oxidase‐like activity (OXD‐like activity), and template methods are widely used to introduce oxygen vacancies (O _v ) for further improvement of OXD‐like activity. However, the current precise templates with high cost and poor biocompatibility impart resistance to MnO ₂ nanozymes in biocatalysis applications. Therefore, the development of green templates with economy, biocompatibility, and even edibility is urgently necessary. In this study, attapulgite (ATP) mineral was employed as a natural template to introduce the O _v of MnO ₂ nanozymes, and the high OXD‐like activity with Michaelis constant (K _m ) = 0.14 mM and maximum reaction velocity (V _max ) = 4.97 × 10 ⁻⁶ M·s ⁻¹ was achieved. The ─OH control experiments, XPS, and density functional theory (DFT) were used to carefully detect the O _v formation mechanism: the ─OH groups on ATP surface weaken the interaction between Mn─O bonds, lowering the energy barrier for O _v formation. This work provides a green clay template for MnO ₂ nanozymes to achieve high OXD‐like activity through the O _v boost.