Abstract

Aggregation of the biotemplates in mineralization processes is a considerable obstacle in preparing well-dispersed bio-inorganic hybrid materials. In this study, aggregation and mineralization of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) biotemplates were investigated as a function of the copper precursor (CuCl₂) concentration. The mean hydrodynamic radius of TMV in an aqueous CuCl₂ solution was determined by dynamic light scattering for the monitoring of the TMV aggregation. At CuCl₂ concentration of 0.5 mM or higher, the mean hydrodynamic radius of TMV increased dramatically indicating aggregation of the TMV particles. Numerical calculations on the long-range interaction energy between parallel model TMV particles agreed with the experimental observations for the TMV aggregation. Mineralization of copper precursors on the TMV biotemplates was achieved only at the CuCl₂ concentrations that induced considerable aggregation of the biotemplate. From the numerical calculations and experimental results, it was concluded that a dense copper cluster deposition cannot be achieved without aggregation of TMV templates.

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Keywords: Tobacco mosaic virus; Copper; Interaction energy; Aggregation

Article Outline

1. Introduction

2. Experimental

3. Modeling: Interaction energy calculation

4. Results and discussion

5. Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References