ETH Zurich, Food & Soft Materials Science, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, Zürich, Switzerland.
Nat Nanotechnol. 2012 May 6;7(7):421-7. doi: 10.1038/nnano.2012.62.
Graphene has exceptional mechanical and electronic properties, but its hydrophobic nature is a disadvantage in biologically related applications. Amyloid fibrils are naturally occurring protein aggregates that are stable in solution or under highly hydrated conditions, have well-organized supramolecular structures and outstanding strength. Here, we show that graphene and amyloid fibrils can be combined to create a new class of biodegradable composite materials with adaptable properties. This new composite material is inexpensive, highly conductive and can be degraded by enzymes. Furthermore, it can reversibly change shape in response to variations in humidity, and can be used in the design of biosensors for quantifying the activity of enzymes. The properties of the composite can be fine-tuned by changing the graphene-to-amyloid ratio.
石墨烯具有优异的机械和电子性能，但它的疏水性在与生物相关的应用中是一个缺点。淀粉样纤维是天然存在的蛋白质聚集体，在溶液或高度水合条件下稳定，具有良好组织的超分子结构和出色的强度。在这里，我们表明石墨烯和淀粉样纤维可以结合在一起，创造出一种具有可调节性质的新型可生物降解复合材料。这种新型复合材料价格低廉、导电性高，并且可以被酶降解。此外，它可以响应湿度的变化而可逆地改变形状，并可用于设计用于定量测定酶活性的生物传感器。通过改变石墨烯与淀粉样纤维的比例，可以对复合材料的性能进行微调。
