Biomimetic and bioinspired silica: recent developments and applications

Abstract

In a previous review of biological and bioinspired silica formation (S. V. Patwardhan et al., Chem. Commun., 2005, 1113 [ref. 1]), we have identified and discussed the roles that organic molecules (additives) play in silica formation in vitro. Tremendous progress has been made in this field since and this review attempts to capture, with selected examples from the literature, the key advances in synthesising and controlling properties of silica-based materials using bioinspired approaches, i.e. conditions of near-neutral pH, all aqueous environments and room temperature. One important reason to investigate biosilicifying systems is to be able to develop novel materials and/or technologies suitable for a wide range of applications. Therefore, this review will also focus on applications arising from research on biological and bioinspired silica. A range of applications such as in the areas of sensors, coatings, hybrid materials, catalysis and biocatalysis and drug delivery have started appearing. Furthermore, scale-up of this technology suitable for large-scale manufacturing has proven the potential of biologically inspired synthesis.

A Solid State NMR Investigation of Recent Marine Siliceous Sponge Spicules

“…In the marine world, diatoms, which are planktonic unicellular algae, and siliceous sponges represent striking examples of mineralized living organisms [2]. The complexity encountered in their composition and the beauty of their structure make them model systems for studying natural bioorganic/inorganic hybrid materials in order to improve our knowledge of the interactions between silica and organic matter [3]. In such systems, natural silica-we can call "biogenic silica" because it is completely generated by living cells themselves-which represents a production of 10 10 tons per year lying in ocean depths, is in perpetual interaction with the surrounding organic and biological environment [4].…”

Force Field and a Surface Model Database for Silica to Simulate Interfacial Properties in Atomic Resolution

“…[12][13][14][15] Diatoms in marine environments also produce hierarchically organized silica-protein skeletons, [16][17][18] and laboratory efforts have aimed at replications using designed amino acid sequences. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Success in terms of achievable order of silica nanostructures has yet been limited, even though several peptides and proteins isolated from microorganisms and cellular templates were employed. 19,21,22,[26][27][28][29][30] Engineering complex silica-containing materials requires quantitative understanding of the role of the silica precursors, surface chemistry of silica formed, as well as competitive interactions with solvents and proteins.…”

Force fields for simulating the interaction of surfaces with biological molecules

“…Different-sized silica nanoparticles, for instance, can attract peptides with only 20% sequence similarity [13] and the mechanism for different specificity is unclear. Experimental methods operating at their current limits of resolutions are largely inadequate in this sphere.…”