Biology Institute , Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences) , Shandong 250000 , People's Republic of China.
Department of Biomedical Engineering , Tufts University , Medford , Massachusetts 02155 , United States.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Jul 11;10(27):22924-22931. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b04777. Epub 2018 Jun 27.
Mass production of high-quality graphene dispersions under mild conditions impacts the utility of the material for biomedical applications. Various proteins have been used to prepare graphene dispersions, rare sources, and expensive prices for these proteins restrict their large-scale utility for the production of graphene. Here, inexpensive silk proteins as an abundant resource in nature were used for graphene exfoliation. The silk proteins were assembled into hydrophobic nanofibers with negative charge, and then optimized for the production of graphene. Significantly higher concentrations (>8 mg mL) and yields (>30%) of graphene dispersions under ambient aqueous conditions were achieved compared with previous protein-assisted exfoliation systems. The exfoliated graphene exhibited excellent stability in water and fetal bovine serum solution, cytocompatibility, and conductivity, suggesting a promising future in biomedical and bioengineering applications.
在温和条件下大规模生产高质量的石墨烯分散体影响了该材料在生物医学应用中的实用性。已经使用了各种蛋白质来制备石墨烯分散体，但是这些蛋白质的稀有来源和昂贵价格限制了它们在大规模生产石墨烯方面的应用。在这里，天然中丰富的廉价丝蛋白被用于石墨烯的剥离。丝蛋白组装成带负电荷的疏水性纳米纤维，然后对其进行优化以生产石墨烯。与以前的蛋白质辅助剥离系统相比，在环境水条件下可实现更高浓度（>8mg/mL）和更高收率（>30%）的石墨烯分散体。剥离的石墨烯在水中和胎牛血清溶液中表现出优异的稳定性、细胞相容性和导电性，这表明其在生物医学和生物工程应用中有广阔的前景。
