Al-Garawi, Zahraa S, Kostakis, Georgios E and Serpell, Louise C (2016) Chemically and thermally stable silica nanowires with a β-sheet peptide core for bionanotechnology. Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 14. p. 79. ISSN 1477-3155

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Abstract

Background: A series of amyloidogenic peptides based on the sequence KFFEAAAKKFFE template the silica precursor, tetraethyl orthosilicate to form silica-nanowires containing a cross-β peptide core.

Results: Investigation of the stability of these fibres reveals that the silica layers protect the silica-nanowires allowing them to maintain their shape and physical and chemical properties after incubation with organic solvents such as 2-propanol, ethanol, and acetonitrile, as well as in a strong acidic solution at pH 1.5. Furthermore, these nanowires were thermally stable in an aqueous solution when heated up to 70 °C, and upon autoclaving. They also preserved their conformation following incubation up to 4 weeks under these harsh conditions, and showed exceptionally high physical stability up to 1000 °C after ageing for 12 months. We show that they maintain their β-sheet peptide core even after harsh treatment by confirming the β-sheet content using Fourier transform infrared spectra. The silica nanowires show significantly higher chemical and thermal stability compared to the unsiliconised fibrils.

Conclusions: The notable chemical and thermal stability of these silica nanowires points to their potential for use in microelectromechanics processes or fabrication for nanotechnological devices.

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	School of Life Sciences > Biochemistry
Research Centres and Groups:	Dementia Research Group
Depositing User:	Louise Serpell
Date Deposited:	05 Dec 2016 17:52
Last Modified:	25 Jun 2018 16:51
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/65813

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