Naveena Yanamala

Two-dimensional graphitic carbon is a new material with many emerging applications, and studying its chemical properties is an important goal. Here, we reported a new phenomenon--the enzymatic oxidation of a single layer of graphitic carbon by horseradish peroxidase (HRP). In the presence of low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (∼40 μM), HRP catalyzed the oxidation of graphene oxide, which resulted in the formation of holes on its basal plane. During the same period of analysis, HRP failed to oxidize chemically reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The enzymatic oxidation was characterized by Raman, ultraviolet-visible, electron paramagnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Computational docking studies indicated that HRP was preferentially bound to the basal plane rather than the edge for both graphene oxide and RGO. Owing to the more dynamic nature of HRP on graphene oxide, the heme active site of HRP was in closer proximity to graphene oxide compared to RGO, thereby facilitating the oxidation of the basal plane of graphene oxide. We also studied the electronic properties of the reduced intermediate product, holey reduced graphene oxide (hRGO), using field-effect transistor (FET) measurements. While RGO exhibited a V-shaped transfer characteristic similar to a single layer of graphene that was attributed to its zero band gap, hRGO demonstrated a p-type semiconducting behavior with a positive shift in the Dirac points. This p-type behavior rendered hRGO, which can be conceptualized as interconnected graphene nanoribbons, as a potentially attractive material for FET sensors.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been investigated for a variety of applications including composite materials, electronics, and drug delivery. However, these applications may be compromised depending on the negative effects of SWNTs to living systems. While reports of toxicity induced by SWNTs vary, means to alleviate or quell these effects are in small abundance. We have reported recently the degradation of carboxylated SWNTs through enzymatic catalysis with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). In this full Article, we investigated the degradation of both carboxylated and pristine SWNTs with HRP and compared these results with chemical degradation by hemin and FeCl(3). The interaction between pristine and carboxylated SWNTs with HRP was further studied by computer modeling, and the products of the enzymatic degradation were identified. By examining these factors with both pristine and carboxylated SWNTs through a variety of techniques including atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared (UV-vis-NIR) spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), degradation pathways were elucidated. It was observed that pristine SWNTs demonstrate no degradation with HRP incubation but display significant degradation when incubated with either hemin or FeCl(3). Such data signify a heterolytic cleavage of H(2)O(2) with HRP as pristine nanotubes do not degrade, whereas Fenton catalysis results in the homolytic cleavage of H(2)O(2) producing free radicals that oxidize pristine SWNTs. Product analysis shows complete degradation produces CO(2) gas. Conversely, incomplete degradation results in the formation of different oxidized aromatic hydrocarbons.