Enzyme Mediated Synthesis of a Semiconducting Metal Oxide

Enzymes are an important class of biological molecules, their specific functionality being exploited to perform tasks beyond the reach of conventional chemistry. Because they are operational under environmentally friendly, ambient conditions, the adaptation of these biomacromolecules can be used to replace current energy intensive and environmentally harsh synthesis methods for materials applications. One possible use of the enzyme urease is to modify the solution environment of a water soluble and stable TiO2 precursor under benign conditions. The intended result of this process would be to yield TiO2 nanostructures of controlled size. These TiO2 nanostructures can be utilized for numerous engineering applications such as low cost photovoltaics and photocatalysis. The motivation behind this work is to produce titanium dioxide using an ambient temperature, near neutral pH, one-pot synthesis method. Furthermore to make this process suitable for industrial application this work also focuses on immobilizing the enzyme for increased stability and reusability