Bioinspired design of mesoporous silica complex based on active site of carbonic anhydrase

Bio-Inspired Functional Materials for Environmental Applications

With the global population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, there is an urgent need for advanced materials that can address existing and developing environmental issues. Many current synthesis processes are environmentally unfriendly and often lack control over size, shape, and phase of resulting materials. Based on knowledge from biological synthesis and assembly processes, as well as their resulting functions (e.g., photosynthesis, self-healing, anti-fouling, etc.), researchers are now beginning to leverage these biological blueprints to advance bio-inspired pathways for functional materials for water treatment, air purification and sensing. The result has been the development of novel materials that demonstrate enhanced performance and address sustainability. Here, an overview of the progress and potential of bio-inspired methods toward functional materials for environmental applications is provided. The challenges and opportunities for this rapidly expanding field and aim to provide a valuable resource for researchers and engineers interested in developing sustainable and efficient processes and technologies is discussed.

A Zinc Coordination Complex Mimicking Carbonic Anhydrase for CO2 Hydrolysis and Sequestration

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) mimicking is an effective and environmentally friendly strategy for carbon dioxide sequestration. Herein, we developed a nonanuclear CA-mimetic zinc coordination complex (1) which possesses a coordination environment similar to that of CA's catalytically active zinc sites. Complex 1 exhibited excellent reusability, solvent and thermal stability, and gram-scale synthesis, which are essential for practical applications. It was found that complex 1 exhibited outstanding catalytic performance that is much better in comparison to that of the popular CA-mimetic compound Zn-cyclen and comparable to that of the reported metal-organic frameworks (e.g., CFA-1). Moreover, we found that its catalytic activity can be significantly improved via OAc^-/OH^- exchange and particle size reduction treatment. This study provides important guidance for the design of highly efficient CA-mimetic materials.

A bio-inspired zinc finger analogue anchored in 2D hexagonal mesoporous silica for room temperature CO2activation via a hydrogenocarbonate route

A room temperature hydrogenocarbonate intermediate in CO₂activation by a carbonic anhydrase active site analog inserted in the nanopores of mesostructured porous silicas.

One-pot synthesis of ordered mesoporous transition metal–zirconium oxophosphate composites with excellent textural and catalytic properties

A series of ordered M–X–ZrPO materials were successfully synthesized via a facile and general one-pot evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) strategy.