Green Synthesis of Metal-Organic Biohybrid (Mob) Nanomaterials

Green synthesis of nanomaterials endeavors to reduce the use of high energy methods with those that may include lower temperatures and pressures, use of natural products, and bottom-up self-assembly. Here we describe the generation of metal-organic biohybrids (MOBs) with nanoscale features synthesized at physiological (37°C) and room temperature (25°C). These MOBs utilized the naturally occurring amino acid dimer cystine as the biological component, and a series of metals, including copper, silver, and cobalt. The copper- and silver- based nanomaterials generated were distinct in size and shape. Copper formed elongated high-aspect ratio structures which we have named CuHARS. In contrast, the self-assembly of cystine and silver formed nanoparticles which we designate as AgCysNPs, and cobalt formed particles which we designate as CoMOBs. Both cobalt and silver could be combined with copper in the same reaction vessel to carry out green synthesis of different nanomaterials simultaneously. Post-synthesis the polarization of light by CuHARS provided one measure to distinguish the size and shape of different MOBs generated simultaneously.