Biotemplates for obtaining of microtubes capped by gold nanoparticles.

• Grant number: 11/15075-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2012
• End date: February 28, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Emerson Rodrigues de Camargo
• Grantee: Andressa Mayumi Kubo
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Recent studies showed that it is possible to obtained complex materials with interesting technological properties using macromolecules as templates for self-assembling of functional inorganic nanoparticles. Although the potential technological application of these materials, the use of live-biotemplates to prepare hybrid materials is still an open field for research. Based in our preliminary results, we are proposing here a Research Project focused on the use of some specific fungus as biotemplate to obtain microtubes with colloidal gold nanoparticles. Some questions regarding how the nanoparticles form the microtube wall and what kind of interaction occurs between the nanoparticles and the fungus cells need to be understood. In this work, microtubes with controlled morphological characteristics will be prepared with gold nanoparticles and three different fungi, the Penicillium brasilianum, Aspergillus aculeatus and the a Xylaria sp, growth in different media. The final hybrid materials will be annealed and chemically treated to remove the biological material and characterized aiming its use for catalysis or for electrical analytical application.