Smartphone-assisted detection platform with dendritic-like N-doped meso-macroporous carbon nanozyme for fast and colorimetric detection of D-limonene

• Published in: Microchemical journal 2025-02, Vol.209, p.112745, Article 112745
• Main Authors: Dong, Yaru, Zhao, Fangxin, Cai, Taimei, Zhu, Wenting, Shu, Jicheng, Peng, Hailong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Colorimetric detection; D-limonene; Dendritic-like; Meso-macroporous carbon; Nanozyme
• ISSN: 0026-265X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.microc.2025.112745

[Display omitted] •A dendritic-like N-doped meso-macroporous carbon nanozyme was synthesized.•The nanozyme-based method was firstly proposed for rapid detection of D-limonene.•A smartphone-assisted nanozyme platform was designed to for D-limonene detection.•Providing a new strategy for monitoring the quality changes of D-limoneneproducts. D-limonene is one of the most decisive quality markers for many fruits and agricultural crops. The determination of D-limonene is critical for precision and postharvest agricultures. Therefore, a simple, low-cost and effective nanozyme-based strategy was firstly proposed for fast and colorimetric detection of D-limonene. A dendritic-like N-doped carbon nanozyme (DNCzyme) with hierarchically meso-macroporous structure was synthesized, which can oxidize H2O2 to generate hydroxyl radicals and subsequently exhibit peroxidase (POD)-like activity in 3,3′,5,5′–tetramethylbenzidine solution. Coincidentally, D-limonene can scavenge hydroxyl radicals and then quench the POD-like activity. Therefore, DNCzyme was applied as a colourimetric sensor for D-limonene detection based on the “on–off” model of POD-like activity. A broad linear range from 0.05 to 18.00 µM (R2 = 0.9923) and high sensitivity (LOD = 0.049 μM) was obtained. Meanwhile, a smartphone-assisted DNCzyme detection platform was developed to convert D-limonene induced color changes into RGB values, and realized rapid, portable, and visual detection of D-limonene. The LOD of 0.063 μM was achieved with a wide linear relation (2.00–16.00 µM) for the smartphone-assisted DNCzyme platform. The DNCzyme-based methods were successfully used to detect D-limonene content in real samples, and which were verified by GC–MS method. Our findings are expected to pioneer new protocols for the design of satisfied-performance carbon-based nanozymes, and providing new perspectives for monitoring the quality change of the postharvest fruits and agricultures containing D-limonene.