Designing an ecofriendly catalyst for a sustainable use of water resources

TL;DR

A new eco-friendly catalyst is developed to help reduce pollution and water waste in the textile industry.

Contribution

A novel bifunctional chimeric peptide DNAzyme (bi-CPDzyme) is developed with superior catalytic performance for sustainable water treatment.

Findings

The bi-CPDzyme prototype outperforms natural enzymes in catalase and peroxidase activities.

The catalyst efficiently decomposes hydrogen peroxide and degrades dyes in real textile industry samples.

The design incorporates histidine and arginine residues to enhance catalytic efficiency.

Abstract

The printing and dyeing industry is one of the most polluting (∼20% of global clean water pollution), water-consuming and energy-wasting sectors in the manufacturing field, highlighting the need to find green catalysts to improve its sustainability. Herein, a novel artificial green catalyst was developed, known as a bifunctional chimeric peptide DNAzyme (bi-CPDzyme), comprising peptide, DNA and hemin moieties. This catalyst displays both catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activities. The turnover number (kcat) of the optimized bi-CPDzyme prototype (G-quadruplex-Hemin-HRRHKHRRH) surpasses the natural CAT/POD bifunctional enzyme KatG, and competes with individual CAT and POD enzymes. This remarkable performance is attributed to the strategic combination and incorporation of histidine (H) and arginine (R) residues, which effectively trap hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) near the catalytic center via hydrogen bond formation, thus facilitating the generation of the active intermediate compound I, as supported here by theoretical calculations. Significantly, bi-CPDzyme achieves efficient decomposition of bleaching-derived residual H2O2 in a water-/energy-saving manner, while degrading dyes from textile industry effluents even in complex real samples, in addition to being easily recyclable and implementable. These findings make bi-CPDzyme a cutting-edge and environmentally friendly catalyst, positioning it at the forefront of advancements towards creating a sustainable society.

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