Mucociliary Clearance Inspired Nanozyme-centric Hydrogel Composites for Integrated Bacterial Detection

The rapid movement of populations has led to the transmission and infection of pathogens, imposing a significant burden on global healthcare systems and economies. Despite considerable progress, current strategies heavily rely on specialized instruments or complex processing of bacterial samples. Inspired by pulmonary cilia and the mucus on it, a nanozyme-centric hydrogel network, integrated into nanowires for comprehensive bacterial lysis and detection. Nanozymes serve as multifunctional initiators and crosslinkers for the hydrogel network, enabling a one-step gelation process that addresses the aggregation issues of nanozyme particles, and improving the sensitivity of colorimetric detection. By integrating the nanozyme-centric hydrogel with the rapid piercing capabilities of the nanowire arrays, an efficient platform is developed for the disinfection, lysis, and detection of various bacterial strains. Moreover, this detection platform is adaptable to flexible substrates and can be integrated with machine learning algorithms, promoting versatile home-based pathogen testing in resource-limited settings. © 2025 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.