Biocompatible platinum nanoclusters prepared using bitter gourd polysaccharide for colorimetric detection of ascorbic acid

Ascorbic acid is an organic compound with antioxidant properties that can protect the human body from the threat of free radicals. Therefore, it is important to detect the existence and measure the concentration of ascorbic acid to regulate its content in the human body. In this work, we prepared bitter gourd polysaccharide (BGP)-stabilized platinum nanoclusters (Pt-BGP NCs) by reacting BGP with K₂ PtCl₄ . Pt-BGP NCs and catalyzed the decomposition of H₂ O₂ to generate •OH radicals, which could oxidize TMB to form oxidized TMB (oxTMB), indicating their peroxidase-like properties. The kinetics followed the Michaelis–Menten equation. Furthermore, the colorimetric detection of ascorbic acid using Pt-BGP NCs showed high selectivity and a low detection limit of 0.191 µM. The accuracy of real sample detection using Pt-BGP NCs was as high as 98.9%. More importantly, Pt-BGP NCs had high cell biocompatibility and extremely low hemolysis rate due to the component of BGP. In summary, the prepared Pt-BGP NCs with reductive activity and good biocompatibility have good application prospects in colorimetric detection of ascorbic acid.