Background
Hair dyes, as common daily chemical products, have been integrated into human daily life. However, the aniline additives contained in traditional hair dyes pose potential threats to health. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop an eco-friendly and convenient detection method and to explore safe alternatives. In this context, enzymatic catalysis technology has received widespread attention due to its safety and eco-friendliness.
Results
Herein, copper-doped carbon dots (CuCDs) with laccase-like activity were prepared by a one-step calcination of copper sulfate, amaranth and ammonium chloride. The resultant CuCDs are monodispersed ellipsoidal crystals with an average diameter of 3.4 nm and active copper centers similar to that of natural laccase. Enzyme kinetics experiments demonstrated that the maximum rate constant (Vmax) obtained from CuCDs is 59 times greater than that of natural laccase, and the Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) is only about half that of natural laccase, indicating a high affinity for laccase substrate. The CuCDs also exhibited a superior stability in comparison with the natural laccase, as over 90 % of their catalytic activity can be maintained in wide pH, temperatures and more than 30 days storage. In the presence of oxygen, CuCDs can not only catalyze the chromogenic reaction of o-phenylenediamine (OPD) and p-phenylenediamine (PPD), allowing for the selective and rapid quantification of these aniline additives in hair dye products, but also catalyze the polymerization of dopamine (DA) under ambient conditions for hair dyeing.
Significance
This work not only provides an effective method for the determination of aniline additives in hair dyes, but also offers new approaches for safe hair dyeing, and expands the application of carbon nanomaterials in the cosmetics field.