Sunlight-Driven Photothermal Effect of Composite Eggshell Membrane Coated with Graphene Oxide and Gold Nanoparticles

Eggshell membrane (ESM), which consists of unique interwoven shell membrane fibers, provides a unique supporting platform for functional nanoparticles in catalysis and sensing. This work reports a novel strategy for fabricating sunlight-driven photothermal conversion composite membranes by loading graphene oxide (GO) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on the three-dimension (3D) network structured eggshell membrane. Surface morphologies and chemical elements were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. High photothermal conversion under simulated sunlight irradiation, which may be caused by the synergistic effect of GO and AuNPs, was achieved by coating both GO and AuNPs onto ESM. The temperature of ESM modified with AuNPs, and then GO increased from 26.0 degrees C to 49.0 degrees C after 10 min of light irradiation. Furthermore, the nanoscaled GO and AuNPs could add benefit to the heating localization of the obtained composite membrane. It is expected this biocompatible ESM modified with GO and AuNPs would have great potential in drug release and photothermal therapy applications.