Directed evolution of artificial repeat proteins as habit modifiers for the morphosynthesis of (111)-terminated gold nanocrystals.

Natural biocomposites are shaped by proteins that have evolved to interact with inorganic materials. Protein directed evolution methods which mimic Darwinian evolution have proven highly successful to generate improved enzymes or therapeutic antibodies but have rarely been used to evolve protein-material interactions. Indeed, most reported studies have focused on short peptides and a wide range of oligopeptides with chemical binding affinity for inorganic materials have been uncovered by phage display methods.

Nanoparticles Self-Assembly Driven by High Affinity Repeat Protein Pairing.

Proteins are the most specific yet versatile biological self-assembling agents with a rich chemistry. Nevertheless, the design of new proteins with recognition capacities is still in its infancy and has seldom been exploited for the self-assembly of functional inorganic nanoparticles. Here, we report on the protein-directed assembly of gold nanoparticles using purpose-designed artificial repeat proteins having a rigid but modular 3D architecture.

Assembly of two- and three-dimensionally patterned silicate materials using responsive soft templates.

We report a soft and straightforward method for synthesizing two- and three-dimensionally patterned silicate materials by phase separation using nonionic emulsion templates. Our liquid-state method involves, under controlled atmosphere, the mixing of a condensed silica solution with an oil-in-water emulsion in the presence of a solution of a nonionic emulsifier, Triton X-100. The preparation is stabilized using an organic solvent.

Potentiometric determination of the 'formal' hydrolysis ratio of aluminium species in aqueous solutions.

The 'formal' hydrolysis ratio (h = C(OH-)added/C(Al)total) of hydrolysed aluminium-ions is an important parameter required for the exhaustive and quantitative speciation-fractionation of aluminium in aqueous solutions. This paper describes a potentiometric method for determination of the formal hydrolysis ratio based on an automated alkaline titration procedure. The method uses the point of precipitation of aluminium hydroxide as a reference (h = 3.