Journal
NANO RESEARCH
Volume 8, Issue 7, Pages 2288-2301Publisher
TSINGHUA UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-015-0739-5
Keywords
extreme biomimetics; chitin-GeO2; photoluminescence; near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy
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Funding
- DAAD [50015537]
- PUT [03/32/443/2014-DS-PB]
- DFG [EH 394/3-1]
- BHMZ Programme of Dr.-Erich-Kruger-Foundation (Germany) at TU Bergakademie Freiberg
- BMBF within the project CryPhys Concept [03EK3029A]
- Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety within the joint research project BaSta [0325563D]
- Cluster of Excellence Structure Design of Novel High Performance Materials via Atomic Design and Defect Engineering (ADDE) - European Union (European regional development fund)
- Ministry of Science and Art of Saxony (SMWK)
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This work presents an extreme biomimetics route for the creation of nanostructured biocomposites utilizing a chitinous template of poriferan origin. The specific thermal stability of the nanostructured chitinous template allowed for the formation under hydrothermal conditions of a novel germanium oxide-chitin composite with a defined nanoscale structure. Using a variety of analytical techniques (FTIR, Raman, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, EDS-mapping, selected area for the electron diffraction pattern (SAEDP), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)), we showed that this bioorganic scaffold induces the growth of GeO2 nanocrystals with a narrow (150-300 nm) size distribution and predominantly hexagonal phase, demonstrating the chitin template's control over the crystal morphology. The formed GeO2-chitin composite showed several specific physical properties, such as a striking enhancement in photoluminescence exceeding values previously reported in GeO2-based biomaterials. These data demonstrate the potential of extreme biomimetics for developing new-generation nanostructured materials.
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