In situ deposition of flower-like ZnO on silk fibroin fibers

Abstract

In this paper, a convenient biomineralization technique has been developed to form and assemble flower-like zinc oxide (ZnO) on silk fibroin fiber (SFF). Therein, SFF functions as supporting substrate and reactive sites for the in situ generation of ZnO particles. The photoluminescence (PL) of the resulting nanocomposite ZnO/SFF is investigated extensively. The PL peaks are mainly in the visible region (red), which is different from the usual ZnO region (green and violet). As-prepared ZnO/SFF nanocomposites could be useful in the medical field, photoelectron transfer devices, biomolecular detection, and antibacterial agents.