title: Biomimetic synthesis of titania nanoparticles induced by protamine.
abstract: Protamine, a kind of cationic protein extracted from sperm nuclei, was employed for the first time in vitro to induce the formation of a titania/protamine nanoparticle composite from a water-stable titanium precursor, titanium(IV) bis(ammonium lactato) dihydroxide (Ti-BALDH). The resulting titania/protamine nanoparticle composite was extensively characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The titania/protamine nanoparticle composite was of amorphous structure, and exhibited a different morphology from those prepared by an alkali-catalyzed approach. The catalyzing and templating function of protamine involved in the synthesis of the nanoparticle composite is discussed, and a mechanism tentatively proposed. In addition, the effects of pH and temperature on the amount and size of as-prepared titania/protamine nanoparticle composite were systematically investigated.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, PR China.
authors.forename: Yanjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qianyun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yufei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhongyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D002417:Cattle; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011479:Protamines / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013696:Temperature; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011479:Protamines; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium