Biocompatible, small-sized and well-dispersed gold nanoparticles regulated by silk fibroin fiber from Bombyx mori cocoons

Abstract

Biocompatible, small-sized but well-dispersed gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) remain a major challenge for their synthesis. Here a convenient solution impregnation technique is developed to prepare such Au NPs under the regulation of degummed silk fibroin fibers (SFFs) extracted from Bombyx mori cocoons. SFFs play multiple roles in the formation of Au NPs such as reactive substrate to capture AuCl₄⁻ ions by the chelation of −C=O, reducing agent for Au(0) by the reduction of −OH, and modifiers to render biocompatible Au NPs by some functional groups and biomolecules. The as-prepared Au NPs with a size of 7–10 nm are embedded in the solid SFF substrate, and can disperse well in the liquid system by the disintegration of SFFs into silk fibroin (SF) in a certain CaCl₂ solution. The biocompatible Au NPs exhibit uniform small size and distribute stably in both solid and solution states, which have distinctive properties and functional advantages, and bring great convenience to their storage and transportation.

Keywords

Au NPs / biocompatibility / small size / dispersivity / silk fibroin fiber

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFB1201005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51572169 and 51672175), and the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (Grant Nos. 17ZR1441400 and 18JC1410500).

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