Biomimetics (Nov 2023)

Creation of a 3D Goethite–Spongin Composite Using an Extreme Biomimetics Approach

  • Anita Kubiak,
  • Alona Voronkina,
  • Martyna Pajewska-Szmyt,
  • Martyna Kotula,
  • Bartosz Leśniewski,
  • Alexander Ereskovsky,
  • Korbinian Heimler,
  • Anika Rogoll,
  • Carla Vogt,
  • Parvaneh Rahimi,
  • Sedigheh Falahi,
  • Roberta Galli,
  • Enrico Langer,
  • Maik Förste,
  • Alexandros Charitos,
  • Yvonne Joseph,
  • Hermann Ehrlich,
  • Teofil Jesionowski

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics8070533
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 7
p. 533

Abstract

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The structural biopolymer spongin in the form of a 3D scaffold resembles in shape and size numerous species of industrially useful marine keratosan demosponges. Due to the large-scale aquaculture of these sponges worldwide, it represents a unique renewable source of biological material, which has already been successfully applied in biomedicine and bioinspired materials science. In the present study, spongin from the demosponge Hippospongia communis was used as a microporous template for the development of a new 3D composite containing goethite [α-FeO(OH)]. For this purpose, an extreme biomimetic technique using iron powder, crystalline iodine, and fibrous spongin was applied under laboratory conditions for the first time. The product was characterized using SEM and digital light microscopy, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, XRD, thermogravimetry (TG/DTG), and confocal micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (CMXRF). A potential application of the obtained goethite–spongin composite in the electrochemical sensing of dopamine (DA) in human urine samples was investigated, with satisfactory recoveries (96% to 116%) being obtained.

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