Issue 2, 2024

Bioelectrochemically triggered apoferritin-based bionanoreactors: synthesis of CdSe nanoparticles and monitoring with leaky waveguides

Abstract

Herein, we describe a novel method for producing cadmium-selenide nanoparticles (CdSe NPs) with controlled size using apoferritin as a bionanoreactor triggered by local pH change at the electrode/solution interface. Apoferritin is known for its reversible self-assembly at alkaline pH. The pH change is induced electrochemically by reducing O2 through the application of sufficiently negative voltages and bioelectrochemically through O2 reduction catalyzed by laccase, co-immobilized with apoferritin on the electrode surface. Specifically, a Ti electrode is modified with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane, followed by glutaraldehyde cross-linking (1.5% v/v in H2O) of apoferritin (as the bionanoreactor) and laccase (as the local pH change triggering system). This proposed platform offers a universal approach for controlling the synthesis of semiconductor NPs within a bionanoreactor solely driven by (bio)electrochemical inputs. The CdSe NPs obtained through different synthetic approaches, namely electrochemical and bioelectrochemical, were characterized spectroscopically (UV-Vis, Raman, XRD) and morphologically (TEM). Finally, we conducted online monitoring of CdSe NPs formation within the apoferritin core by integrating the electrochemical system with LWs. The quantity of CdSe NPs produced through bioelectrochemical means was determined to be 2.08 ± 0.12 mg after 90 minutes of voltage application in the presence of O2. TEM measurements revealed that the bioelectrochemically synthesized CdSe NPs have a diameter of 4 ± 1 nm, accounting for 85% of the size distribution, a result corroborated by XRD data. Further research is needed to explore the synthesis of nanoparticles using different biological nanoreactors, as the process can be challenging due to the elevated buffer capacitance of biological media.

Graphical abstract: Bioelectrochemically triggered apoferritin-based bionanoreactors: synthesis of CdSe nanoparticles and monitoring with leaky waveguides

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Nov. 2023
Accepted
11 Dec. 2023
First published
14 Dec. 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale Adv., 2024,6, 516-523

Bioelectrochemically triggered apoferritin-based bionanoreactors: synthesis of CdSe nanoparticles and monitoring with leaky waveguides

A. Tricase, B. Alhenaki, V. Marchianò, L. Torsi, R. Gupta and P. Bollella, Nanoscale Adv., 2024, 6, 516 DOI: 10.1039/D3NA01046E

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