Here we report methods to create composites of silk fibroin and gold nanoparticles to produce flexible, biocompatible substrates for sensing or photothermal applications. Silk fibroin is a naturally-sourced, protein-based material with impressive mechanical properties and has demonstrated use in a broad variety of biomedical applications. Fabrication methods were explored to incorporate gold nanoparticles of various sizes and shapes into silk films and microparticles by encapsulation and passive adsorption. In addition, methods to chemically modify the silk were developed to facilitate electrostatic binding or covalent attachment of gold to the silk surface. Characterization of the composites using S-TEM, EDS, UV/vis and surface resistivity will be presented.

Chemical modification strategies to produce robust composites of silk and gold nanoparticles

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.