Minimalist Second-Sphere Engineering with Polyvinyl Alcohol Drives Cooperative Hydrolysis in Zn(II) System
First sphere engineering has enabled potent artificial phosphatases, but strategies that generate enzyme-like second-sphere effects with simple disordered materials remain limited. Here we demonstrate that partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol (PVA80, 80% hydrolyzed) acts as a minimalist soft matter scaffold that amplifies the hydrolytic activity of hydrated Zn(II). Rather than functioning as
