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MOFs and nanozymes in electrochemical environmental (bio)sensing: recent advances and field translation
Summary
This research review summarizes new advances in portable sensors that can quickly detect dangerous chemicals in our environment, including "forever chemicals" (PFAS), heavy metals, antibiotics, and microplastics. Scientists are combining special porous materials with artificial enzymes to create handheld devices that work like mini labs, allowing us to test water and soil contamination on-the-spot instead of waiting for expensive laboratory results. These breakthrough sensors could help communities quickly identify health threats in their drinking water and environment before people get sick.
Electrochemical (bio)sensing is increasingly positioned as a practical complement to laboratory-based analytical methodologies for environmental monitoring, especially where high-frequency, on-site measurements are required. In this context, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and nanozymes have rapidly gained wide interest to reshape the electrode not just as a passive conductor, but as a versatile interface. MOFs’ tunable porosity and high-density adsorption sites can be coupled with enzyme-mimetic catalysis for signal amplification. Given the exponential expansion of the literature on this topic, this review aims to provide a snapshot of the advances published during the last year, 2025, focusing on (bio)sensing for the detection of major contaminant classes, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), heavy metals, antibiotics, and micro-/nanoplastics. Recurrent design logics emerged, such as porous layers that increase local analyte levels at the electrode interface, redox-active frameworks that provide intrinsic transduction, and nanozyme-driven amplification schemes that translate weak binding events or trace-levels concentrations into measurable signals. Moreover, this report highlights how current strategies are being increasingly challenged in environmental-matrix validation to achieve field-ready platforms. • MOFs and nanozymes can be coupled to increase analytical performances • MOFs’ tunable chemistry and porosity enable PFAS and heavy metals preconcentration • Enzyme-mimicking nanozymes provide catalytic amplification for trace analysis • Rapid shift from laboratory proofs to application-centered field-ready sensors