Glutathione (GSH) plays a significant role in various biological functions. The fluctuation of GSH level is closely linked to some serious diseases. Currently, the colorimetric detection of GSH is mainly built on the inhibitory effect on the catalytic activity of the developed nanomaterials. However, tedious synthesis of the nanomaterials is always required to control their morphologies for better catalytic activity. Metal indicators are some specific substances capable of chelating metal ions, during which significant color variation can be triggered, making them promising for colorimetric analysis. More importantly, the recognition of metal ions has nothing to do with the structure of the materials. Herein, CoOOH ultrathin nanosheets were prepared via a facile method, which can be easily reduced to Co²⁺ ions by GSH. After being chelated by metal indicator, a rapid and sensitive sensing platform for GSH detection is established with the distinct color change. As a result, the UV–vis absorbances of Co²⁺–xylenol orange disodium salt complexes (a typical metal indicator) at 580 nm exhibit good linearity against GSH concentrations from 33 μM to 1.3 mM with the detection limit of 13.7 μM. The developed sensor is further used in the detection of GSH contained in the human serum and an ideal recovery rate is obtained, demonstrating its excellent applicability for the detection of GSH in practical samples.

谷胱甘肽（GSH）在各种生物学功能中起着重要作用。谷胱甘肽水平的波动与某些严重疾病密切相关。目前，GSH的比色检测主要建立在对已开发的纳米材料的催化活性的抑制作用上。然而，总是需要繁琐的纳米材料合成以控制其形态以获得更好的催化活性。金属指示剂是一些能够螯合金属离子的特定物质，在此期间可以触发显着的颜色变化，使其有希望用于比色分析。更重要的是，金属离子的识别与材料的结构无关。本文中，通过简便的方法制备了CoOOH超薄纳米片，可以轻松地将其还原为Co ²⁺GSH离子。在被金属指示剂螯合后，便建立了具有明显颜色变化的快速灵敏的GSH检测传感平台。结果，Co 2 ^+-二甲苯酚橙二钠盐配合物（一种典型的金属指示剂）在580 nm的UV-vis吸光度对33μM至1.3 mM的GSH浓度表现出良好的线性，检出限为13.7μM。所开发的传感器还用于检测人血清中的谷胱甘肽，获得了理想的回收率，证明了其在实际样品中检测谷胱甘肽的出色适用性。