UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA

Brief Description

Silicatein filaments produced by a particular marine sponge that  have been shown to catalyze and spatially direct the in vitro polymerization of silica and silsesquioxanes from silicon tetraethoxide and organically modified silicon triethoxides, respectively, at neutral pH.

Description

Scientists at the University of California have shown that the protein filaments and their constituent subunits found in the silica structures produced by a marine sponge chemically and spatially direct the polymerization of silica and silicone polymer networks. The marine sponge, Tethya aurantia, produces copious silica spicules which contain an axial filament of protein consisting of three similar subunits, dubbed silicateins (for silica proteins). Silicatein filaments and their constituent subunits have been shown to catalyze and spatially direct the in vitro polymerization of silica and silsesquioxanes from silicon tetraethoxide and organically modified silicon triethoxides, respectively, at neutral pH.

Applications

Silicateins (as well as other proteins, synthetic peptides, and polymers following a similar mechanism) have the potential to catalyze and spatially direct the polycondensation of silicon alkoxides, metal alkoxides, and their conjugates to make silica, polysiloxanes, polymetallo-oxanes, and mixed poly(silicon/metallo)oxane materials under environmentally benign conditions. A wide variety of potential applications exist for such materials, including:

• Resin toughening;
• Electronic and Optoelectronic devices;
• Packaging;
• Insulators;
• Fire-resistant materials;
• Construction materials;
• Plastics;
• Metalloplastic composites;
• Adhesives;
• Water-resistant sealants;
• Filtration membranes.

Background

Nanoscale control of the polymerization of silicon and oxygen has been used to develop a wide range of siloxane-based materials, including glasses, ceramics, mesoporous molecular sieves and catalysts, elastomers, resins, insulators, optical coatings, and photoluminescent polymers. In contrast to anthropogenic and geological syntheses of these materials that require extremes of temperature, pressure, or pH, living systems produce a remarkable diversity of nanostructured silicates at ambient temperatures and pressures at a near-neutral pH. Studies of marine organisms that produce large relative masses of silicified structures are now starting to reveal the underlying molecular and genetic mechanisms by which living systems produce silicon-based materials.

Patent Status

Inventors

• Cha, Jennifer N.
• Deming, Timothy J.
• Kisailus, David
• Morse, Daniel E.
• Roth, Kristian M.
• Shimizu, Katsuhiko
• Stucky, Galen D.
• Sumerel, Jan L.
• Zhou, Yan

Other Information

ADDITIONAL TECHNOLOGIES BY THESE INVENTORS

• Moisture-Resistant Adhesive Polypeptides
• Initiators For Block-Copolypeptide Synthesis
• Modular Adhesives And Energy-Dissipating Materials
• Inorganic/Block Coploymer-Dye Composites And Dye-Doped Mesoporous Materials For Optical And Sensing Applications
• Tough, Self-Healing Silicone Materials
• Nanoparticle Assembled Hollow Spheres
• Novel, Low-Cost Method For Fabrication Of Nanostructured Materials
• Use Of Magnetic Nanoparticles To Remove Dispersed Nanoparticles From Aqueous Solutions
• Thermally Stable Proton-Conductive Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications
• Polymer Shutter For Infrared Detection Systems
• Membranes for Electrochemical Devices and Materials (Fuel cells, Photovoltaic, Batteries)
• Polypeptide Vesicles for Intracellular Drug Delivery
• Hemostatic and Wound Healing Compositions
• High Performance Polymeric Material for Holographic Data Storage
• Novel Current Collector Design for Use in Rechargeable Lithium Metal Batteries
• Low Cost Nanoparticles for Fossil Fuel Exhaust Treatment
• Hydrogen Cyano Fullerene Containing Proton Conducting Membranes
• Hydrophilic Phosphoric Acid Compositions for Proton Conducting Membranes
• Method for Synthesis of Nanoparticles in Carbon Nanotube Arrays for the Study of Array Mechanical Properties
• Novel Capacitor for Rechargeable Batteries with Longer Lifetimes
• Method of Preparing Silicon and Silicon-Germanium Nanocomposites as Thermoelectric Materials

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