In situ synthesis of lead sulfide nanoclusters on eggshell membrane fibers by an ambient bio-inspired technique

An ambient aqueous soakage technique is successfully developed to prepare PbS nanoclusters on eggshell membrane (ESM) fibers containing some active functional groups (hydroxyl, amine, imine, etc). Based on the biomaterial ESM serving as the reactive substrate and some ESM biomacromolecules acting as the surfactant, PbS nanocrystallites are in situ formed and further assembled into well-distributed nanoparticle aggregations. This moderate bio-inspired strategy would be of great value in preparing novel functional nanomaterials. The as-prepared hybrid PbS/ESM nanocomposites could have great potential for applications in semiconductor industries, optoelectronic fields, and nanostructured devices.