Published in

Royal Society of Chemistry, RSC Advances, 96(5), p. 79031-79040

DOI: 10.1039/c5ra09379a

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Novel nanostructured hematite–spongin composite developed using an extreme biomimetic approach

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Red circle
Preprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The marine sponge Hippospongia communis (Demospongiae: Porifera) is a representative of bath sponges, which possess characteristic mineral-free fibrous skeletons made of a structural protein - spongin. This fibrous skeleton is mechanically robust, resistant to acidic treatment, and thermally stable up to 160 °C. Due to these properties, we decided to use this biological material for the first time for the hydrothermal synthesis of hematite (α-Fe2O3) via catalyzed hydrolysis of FeCl3 to obtain a hematite-spongin composite. The material obtained was studied with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. The α-Fe2O3-spongin-based composite was tested for its potential application as an anode material in a capacitor. The results indicate that components constructed using this novel composite material have a positive effect on the capacitance of energy storing devices. This journal is