Traditionally, exfoliation of a- zirconium phosphate, Zr(HPO4)2.H2O (a-ZrP) has been carried out with tetra-n-butylammonium (TBA) hydroxide, surfactant modifications and ionic liquids. a-ZrP is a model system for most 2D layered materials and therefore, it is crucial to develop a method of exfoliation that is both scalable and biologically compatible. We have reported exfoliation of a-ZrP with bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein and shear force carried out in water. Various physiochemical conditions such as pH, temperature, surface charge and concentration of reactants, have been optimized to achieve 100% exfoliation efficiency, allowing for possible scale-up. Exfoliated a-ZrP prepared with this passivating BSA layer has showed enhanced binding to hemoglobin, with almost 80% bound to exfoliated a-ZrP opening the door to biological applications. In this context, we utilized surface plasmon resonance to further characterize the interaction of various proteins with exfoliated a-ZrP. The exfoliated a-ZrP sheets were also characterized using UV-Visible spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy.

Highly efficient, biofriendly exfoliation of a-zirconium phosphate nanosheets in water using proteins

2019 Fall National Meeting

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