Synthetic melanin based metal–insulator–semiconductor devices are fabricated for the first time thanks to silicon surface wettability modification by using dielectric barrier discharge plasma. Ambipolar charge trapping in air and ion drift mechanisms under vacuum are identified by capacitance–voltage hysteresis loops. These results aim to foresee the possible integration of synthetic melanin layers as a novel capacitor in organic polymer based devices.
Eumelanin-type biopolymers have attracted growing interest in the quest for soft bioinspired functional materials for application in organoelectronics. Recently, a metal-insulator-semiconductor device with a good quality interface was produced by spin coating of a com. synthetic eumelanin-like material on a dry plasma-modified silicon surface. As a proof-of-concept step toward the design and implementation of next-generation eumelanin-inspired devices, we report herein an expedient chem. strategy to bestow n-type performance to polydopamine, a highly popular eumelanin-related biopolymer with intrinsic semiconductor behavior, and to tune its elec. properties. The strategy relies on aerial co-oxidn. of dopamine with suitable arom. amines, e.g. 3-aminotyrosine or p-phenylenediamine, leading to good quality black polymeric films. Capacitance-voltage expts. on poly(dopamine/3-aminotyrosine) and poly(dopamine/p-phenylenediamine)-based metal insulator semiconductor devices on p-Si indicated a significant increase in flat band voltage with respect to polydopamine and previous synthetic eumelanin-based diodes. Variations of the flat band voltage under vacuum were obsd. for each device. These results point to polydopamine as a versatile eumelanin-type water-dependent semiconductor platform amenable to fine tuning of its electronic properties through incorporation of π-conjugating arom. amines to tailor functionality
Diatoms are unicellular photosynthetic microalgae, ubiquitously diffused in both marine and freshwater environments, which exist worldwide with more than 100 000 species, each with different morphologies and dimensions, but typically ranging from 10 to 200 µm. A special feature of diatoms is their production of siliceous micro- to nanoporous cell walls, the frustules, whose hierarchical organization of silica layers produces extraordinarily intricate pore patterns. Due to the high surface area, mechanical resistance, unique optical features, and biocompatibility, a number of applications of diatom frustules have been investigated in photonics, sensing, optoelectronics, biomedicine, and energy conversion and storage. Current progress in diatom-based nanotechnology relies primarily on the availability of various strategies to isolate frustules, retaining their morphological features, and modify their chemical composition for applications that are not restricted to those of the bare biosilica produced by diatoms. Chemical or biological methods that decorate, integrate, convert, or mimic diatoms' biosilica shells while preserving their structural features represent powerful tools in developing scalable, low-cost routes to a wide variety of nanostructured smart materials. Here, the different approaches to chemical modification as the basis for the description of applications relating to the different materials thus obtained are presented.
Nanostructured biosilica produced by Thalassiosira weissflogii diatoms is covalently functionalized with the cyclic nitroxide 2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl (TEMPO), an efficient scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in biological systems. Drug delivery properties of the TEMPO-functionalized biosilica are studied for Ciprofloxacin, an antimicrobial thoroughly employed in orthopedic or dental implant related infections. The resulting TEMPO-biosilica, combining Ciprofloxacin drug delivery with anti-oxidant properties, is demonstrated to be a suitable material for fibroblasts and osteoblast-like cells growth. Them bones gonna rise again: Covalent functionalization of nanostructured silica shells from diatoms with TEMPO radical endows biosilica with both drug-delivery properties and antioxidant activity. The resulting functional biosilica is demonstrated to be a suitable substrate for bone cell growth
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