Extreme biomimetic approach for developing novel chitin-GeO2 nanocomposites with photoluminescent properties

This work presents an extreme biomimetics route for the creation of nano- structured biocomposites utilizing a chitinous template of poriferan origin. The specific thermal stability of the nanostructured chitinous template allowed for the formation under hydrothermal conditions of a novel germanium oxide- chitin composite with a defined nanoscale structure. Using a variety of analytical techniques （FTIR, Raman, energy dispersive X-ray （EDX）, near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure （NEXAFS）, and photoluminescence （PL） spectroscopy, EDS-mapping, selected area for the electron diffraction pattern （SAEDP）, and transmission electron microscopy （TEM））, we showed that this bioorganic scaffold induces the growth of GeO2 nanocrystals with a narrow （150-300 nm） size distri- bution and predominantly hexagonal phase, demonstrating the chitin template＇s control over the crystal morphology. The formed GeO2-chitin composite showed several specific physical properties, such as a striking enhancement in photo- luminescence exceeding values previously reported in GeOR-based biomaterials. These data demonstrate the potential of extreme biomimetics for developing new-generation nanostructured materials.