Silica mesoporous aerogels having three-dimensional nanoarchitecture with colloidal gold-protein superstructures nanoglued therein

This disclosure describes the first viable non-enzyme protein encapsulated within an aerogel. In this, a large excess of cyt. c is added to a commercial buffered Au sot solution ( ) which results in the formation of a gold~protein-protein superstructure in the absence of separation techniques which destroy the superstructure.The gold~protein-protein superstructure is then nanoglued into a silica framework during the sol to gel transition. To form the gel, the Au-cyt. c superstructure in buffered medium is added to a silica sol and the composite gels are washed with acetone followed by liquid carbon dioxide and then supercritically dried to form the aerogel.The biocomposite aerogels have a multiplicity of applications particularly in the realm of sensing and energy transformation.