Living Mussel Biological Platform Inspired Synthesis Of Functional Materials

Through continuous evolution,living organisms in nature can accurately and efficiently complete the formation of biological minerals,grow exquisite hierarchical microstructure and show unique functions.Compared with the synthetic methods requiring harsh reaction conditions,the formation process of biological minerals at room temperature is worth learning to develop new synthetic methods and new material preparation technologies,which may be called"bioprocess-inspired synthesis".In the past decades,a large number of research work has reported the use of various biomolecules,cells and other organic matter as process and structure regulators to synthesize materials under highly controlled in vitro conditions.However,the specific mineralization environment and complex biological conditions in the formation of biominerals cannot be completely reproduced by artificially using single or multiple organic matter.Therefore,it is of great significance to synthesize materials directly on the platform of natural living organisms.At present,the synthesis research based on natural living organisms involves a relatively single type of materials,and there is no systematic and in-depth study of the synthesis mechanism and the application of these mechanisms to the material preparation in the laboratory.Therefore,in this paper we take hyriopsis cumingii,which can form pearl in vivo,as the natural biological platform to synthesize different kinds of functional materials at room temperature to explore the mineralization process and mechanism;Further,we learn and use the mineralization mechanism in vivo to guide the low-temperature synthesis of functional materials in vitro.The specific research contents are as follows.1.Tin dioxide and graphene oxide composites are synthesized at room temperature using living mussels as a natural biological platform.Tin salt and graphene oxide are implanted into living mussels as precursor nucleus.Under the action of mineralization in vivo,tin dioxide nucleates and grows in situ on the surface of graphene oxide at room temperature,forming a uniform composite structure of tin dioxide nanocrystals and graphene oxide.Compared with traditional chemical synthesis methods,the synthesis temperature of tin dioxide and graphene oxide composites is significantly lower,which realizes the synthesis at room temperature.In addition,the tin dioxide and graphene oxide composites synthesized by biomineralization at room temperature can be used as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries,exhibiting excellent lithium storage performance.A stable reversible capacity of 1099 m A h g^-1 can be achieved after 100cycles at a current density of 100 m A g^-1.2.α-Fe₂O₃ mesocrystals are synthesized at room temperature using living mussels as a natural biological platform.The implantation of the precursor materialβ-Fe OOH changes the biological environment in the living mussels.Under the action of the organic matter secreted by the cells,the conversion ofβ-Fe OOH toα-Fe₂O₃ at room temperature is realized,leading to the acquisition of nanoparticle-assembledα-Fe₂O₃.Spherical mesocrystals（the lowest reported conversion temperature of Fe OOH to Fe₂O₃ is 250℃）.Combined with mass spectrometry analysis of the product,we find that ferritin plays a key role in this mineralization process,inducing the synthesis ofα-Fe₂O₃ mesocrystals at room temperature.In addition,α-Fe₂O₃ mesocrystals synthesized by biomineralization at room temperature can exhibit excellent electrochemical performance as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.A stable reversible capacity of 847.5 m A h g^-1 can be achieved after 100 cycles at a current density of 1200 m A g^-1.3.α-Fe₂O₃ mesocrystals are synthesized at low temperature based on the in vivo mineralization mechanism.Based on the phenomenon and mechanism of room temperature synthesis ofα-Fe₂O₃ mesocrystals in living mussels,through biomineralization under hydrothermal reaction conditions,it is found that ferritin,which plays an important role in the mineralization process in vivo,can also reduceα-Fe₂O₃ in vitro synthesis temperature.This result demonstrates the in vivo mineralization mechanism,and realizes the complete research idea of in vitro mineralization guided by the in vivo mineralization mechanism.Theα-Fe₂O₃mesocrystals fabricated in vitro have high specific surface area and hierarchical pore structure,and can exhibit excellent electrochemical performance as a lithium-ion electrode material.A stable reversible capacity of 807.5 m A h g^-1 can be achieved after100 cycles at a current density of 1200 m A g^-1.4.A novel nanostructured lead iodide is synthesized with the regulation of imitated nacre recombinant protein.The imitated nacre recombinant protein Chi Sifi Ca designed based on the formation mechanism of natural mineral nacre in vivo is used to regulate the mineralization of lead iodide in vitro.In the process of mineralization,the imitated nacre recombinant protein has a significant effect on the crystallinity and microstructure of lead iodide.Under environmentally friendly conditions,protein as a mineralization template induces the formation of nearly amorphous lead iodide nanorods in aqueous solution,and lead iodide nanoparticles composed of nanorods and sheet structure are prepared.In addition,the prepared lead iodide showes high reaction activity in the process of synthesizing perovskite materials,successfully synthesized perovskite light absorbing layer with higher purity and better crystallinity,and finally improves photovoltaic performance.