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Multifunctional Porous Microspheres Based on Peptide–Porphyrin Hierarchical Co‐Assembly
Author(s) -
Zou Qianli,
Zhang Lu,
Yan Xuehai,
Wang Anhe,
Ma Guanghui,
Li Junbai,
Möhwald Helmuth,
Mann Stephen
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201308792
Subject(s) - biomolecule , porphyrin , microsphere , colloid , porosity , nanotechnology , materials science , nanoscopic scale , photocatalysis , abiotic component , aggregate (composite) , chemical engineering , chemistry , catalysis , photochemistry , organic chemistry , ecology , biology , composite material , engineering
Photocatalytically active, multi‐chambered, biomolecule‐based microspheres were prepared by hierarchical co‐assembly of simple dipeptides and porphyrins. The colloidal microspheres are highly hydrated and consist of a network of J‐aggregate nanoscale substructures that serve as light‐harvesting antennae with a relatively broad spectral cross‐section and considerable photostability. These optical properties can be exploited in photocatalytic reactions involving inorganic or organic species. Taken together, these structural and functional features suggest that soft porous biomolecule‐based colloids are a plausible photosynthetic model that could be developed towards demonstrating aspects of primitive abiotic cellularity.