Abstract:
Natural enzymes suffer from inherent limitations including poor stability, high extraction costs, and susceptibility to denaturation. The emergence of nanozymes offers a promising strategy to overcome these bottlenecks. Attapulgite (ATP), an abundant and low−cost one−dimensional clay mineral, not only possesses a unique layered−chain crystalline structure, nanorod−like morphology, and abundant surface active sites, but also has been recently demonstrated to exhibit intrinsic peroxidase−like (POD−like) activity with Fe as the active center, challenging the conventional perception that it serves merely as an inert support. This review systematically summarizes the mineralogical structural features and resource advantages of ATP, dissects the origins and influencing factors of its intrinsic POD−like activity, and outlines the construction strategies for ATP−based hybrid nanozymes, including single−metal/metal oxide systems, bimetallic systems, and multicomponent synergistic systems. Furthermore, the triple mechanisms—dispersion stabilization, electronic regulation, and substrate enrichment—by which ATP synergistically enhances catalytic performance are elucidated. The recent advances in applications spanning colorimetric sensing, antibacterial therapy, and environmental catalysis are also reviewed. Finally, existing challenges, including natural heterogeneity, insufficient mechanistic understanding of the catalytic pathways, and difficulties in large−scale fabrication, are critically discussed. This review aims to provide a theoretical foundation for the high−value utilization of ATP mineral resources and the development of high−performance nanozymes in China.