title: Mussel-Directed Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Anatase TiO2.
abstract: Structure-forming processes leading to biominerals are well worth learning in pursuit of new synthetic techniques. Strategies that attempt to mimic nature in vitro cannot replace an entire complex natural organism, requiring ingenuity beyond chemists' hands. A "bioprocess-inspired synthesis" is demonstrated for fabrication of N-doped TiO2 materials at ambient temperature by direct implantation of precursor into living mussels. The amorphous precursor transforms into N-doped anatase TiO2 with a hierarchical nanostructure. Synthetic TiO2 exhibits high phase stability and enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity as a result of modifications to its band gap during in vivo mineralization. Intracellular proteins were found to be involved in TiO2 mineralization. Our findings may inspire material production by new synthetic techniques, especially under environmentally benign conditions.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Science, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China.|Laboratory of Inorganic Materials Chemistry, University of Namur, B-5000, Namur, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bao-Lian
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Victoria, 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Yi-Bing
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pearl Research, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524025, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Menghu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China. zyfu@whut.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhengyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000378:metabolism*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: ambient temperature; bioprocess-inspired synthesis; intracellular proteins; natural organisms; nitrogen-doped TiO2