Projects per year
Abstract
Mesoporous materials are useful for a wide range of applications, but control over the dimensions of the porous structure in this size regime remains challenging. Protein cages possess regular shape and many of them fall into the mesoporous size-region, making them potential template materials for inorganic matrices. Here, apoferritin single crystals are used as templates for the production of mesoporous silica. The high free volume and large pore size of the crystals enable silica precursor hydrolysis and condensation inside them and thus templated growth of a silica matrix. Apoferritin can be removed by calcination to yield solid state structures with the crystalline periodicity retained in the mesopores. We foresee that the method is applicable also for other protein cages, enabling production of mesoporous silica with various pore dimensions.
Original language | English |
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Article number | e202100458 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | ChemNanoMat |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 29 Dec 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2022 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
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ProCrystal (ERC): Multicomponent Protein Cage Co-Crystals
Kostiainen, M. (Principal investigator), Ahmed, A. (Project Member), De, S. (Project Member), Liu, Q. (Project Member), Zhou, Y. (Project Member), Enlund, E. (Project Member), Saarinen, S. (Project Member) & Seitz, I. (Project Member)
01/09/2021 → 31/08/2026
Project: EU: ERC grants
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SYNVIRO: Synthetic Virology Toolbox for the Encapsulation of Therapeutic Polyelectrolytes (SYNVIRO)
Kostiainen, M. (Principal investigator), Ahmed, A. (Project Member), Anaya, E. (Project Member), Liu, Q. (Project Member), Julin, S. (Project Member), Välimäki, S. (Project Member) & Korpi, A. (Project Member)
01/09/2017 → 31/08/2021
Project: Academy of Finland: Other research funding
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Protein Cage Directed Self-Assembly of Nanomaterials
Kostiainen, M. (Principal investigator), Korpi, A. (Project Member), Damania, A. (Project Member), Liljeström, V. (Project Member) & Ora, A. (Project Member)
01/09/2016 → 31/08/2018
Project: Academy of Finland: Other research funding
Equipment
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Bioeconomy Research Infrastructure
Seppälä, J. (Manager)
School of Chemical EngineeringFacility/equipment: Facility
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OtaNano - Nanomicroscopy Center
Seitsonen, J. (Manager) & Rissanen, A. (Other)
OtaNanoFacility/equipment: Facility