Abstract
Graphene oxide (GO)-based composite materials have become widely popular in many applications due to the attractive properties of GO, such as high strength and high electrical conductivity at the nanoscale. Most current GO composites use organic polymer as the matrix material and thus, their synthesis suffers from the use of organic solvents or surfactants, which raise environmental and energy-consumption concerns. Inspired by mussel foot proteins (Mfp) secreted by the saltwater mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis and by recent advances in microbial protein production, we developed an aqueous-based green synthesis strategy for preparing GO/Mfp film composites. These GO/Mfp films display high tensile strength (134–158 MPa), stretchability (~ 26% elongation), and high toughness (20–24 MJ/m3), beyond the capabilities of many existing GO composites. Renewable production of Mfp proteins and the facile fabrication process described provides a new avenue for composite material synthesis, while the unique combination of mechanical properties of GO/Mfp films will be attractive for a range of applications.
Highlights
Graphene oxide (GO)-based composite materials have become widely popular in many applications due to the attractive properties of GO, such as high strength and high electrical conductivity at the nanoscale
We hypothesize that the unique chemistry of mussel foot proteins (Mfp) allows the flexible protein chains to form extensive interactions with GO nanosheets through hydrophobic interactions, π–π stacking, cation–π interactions, and hydrogen bonding via DOPA-alcohol, DOPA-carboxylate, and bi-DOPA pairs (Fig. 1a,b)[28,29,30,31]
We report a new type of GO composite material using Mfp as a novel matrix
Summary
Graphene oxide (GO)-based composite materials have become widely popular in many applications due to the attractive properties of GO, such as high strength and high electrical conductivity at the nanoscale. Renewable production of Mfp proteins and the facile fabrication process described provides a new avenue for composite material synthesis, while the unique combination of mechanical properties of GO/Mfp films will be attractive for a range of applications. Secreted by the marine mussel, Mfp utilize a wide range of molecular interactions to bond to hydrophilic surfaces such as rocks, metals, and glass, as well as hydrophobic surfaces, such as plastics These strong interactions with surfaces are achieved largely in part due to the side chain of the non-canonical amino acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA). The tight interaction between Mfp and various surfaces take place underwater If this aqueous-based molecular bonding can be used to prepare composite materials, it will provide a low-energy, environmentally-friendly process for composite fabrication, which would otherwise involve high temperature processes or organic solvents compatible with organic polymers
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