The push to advance efficient, renewable, and clean energy sources has brought with it an effort to generate materials that are capable of storing hydrogen. Metal-organic framework materials (MOFs) have been the focus of many such studies as they are categorized for their large internal surface areas. We have addressed one of the major shortcomings of MOFs (their processibility) by creating and 3D printing a composite of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and MOF-5, a prototypical MOF, which is often used to benchmark H2 uptake capacity of other MOFs. The ABS-MOF-5 composites can be printed at MOF-5 compositions of 10% and below. Other physical and mechanical properties of the polymer (glass transition temperature, stress and strain at the breaking point, and Young’s modulus) either remain unchanged or show some degree of hardening due to the interaction between the polymer and the MOF. We do observe some MOF-5 degradation through the blending process, likely due to the ambient humidity through the purification and solvent casting steps. Even with this degradation, the MOF still retains some of its ability to uptake H2, seen in the ability of the composite to uptake more H2 than the pure polymer. The experiments and results described here represent a significant first step toward 3D printing MOF-5-based materials for H2 storage.
Emerging applications that exploit the properties of nanoparticles for biotechnology require that the nanoparticles be biocompatible or support biological recognition. These types of particles can be produced through syntheses that involve biologically relevant molecules (proteins or natural extracts, for example). Many of the protocols that rely on these molecules are performed without a clear understanding of the mechanism by which the materials are produced. We describe a single-pot reaction in which protein-templated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are produced as either solution-suspended colloids or as colloids formed within a solid, fibrous protein structure. We have investigated the mechanism for this process by detailing the reaction kinetics and outcomes through the use of 7 different proteins over a range of concentrations and temperatures. The key factor that controls the synthetic outcome (colloid or fiber) is the concentration of the protein relative to the gold concentration. We find that the observed fibrous structures are more likely to form at low protein concentrations and when hydrophilic proteins are used.An analysis of the reaction kinetics shows that AuNP formation occurs faster at lower protein (fiber-forming) concentrations than at higher protein (colloid-forming) concentrations. These results contradict expectations for reaction kinetics and proteinfiber formation, highlighting the need for a better understanding of the mechanism by which biomolecules can facilitate nanoparticle synthesis. As the protein properties that influence this mechanism are better recognized, researchers will be able to better utilize proteins to generate geometry-controlled AuNPs.
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