Living organisms direct the location, structure, and properties of biominerals by tightly controlling reactant concentration profiles, biopolymer identity and availability, and other aspects of reaction microenvironments. Such control at the microscale is difficult to exert in synthetic systems. We are studying reactive aqueous multiphase emulsions as bioinspired mineralizing microenvironments. Each droplet can contain multiple coexisting phases, enabling pre-organization of the reagents and enzyme catalysts as well as structure-directing biomolecules, etc. We have demonstrated this approach for calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate-based materials and are interested in understanding how the initial organization and the changes in microenvironment during reaction together determine the composition, structure, and properties of the resulting materials. This project combines real-time imaging for in situ analysis of reaction environments with post-synthesis characterization of the solid composite particles.
Representative Publications
Formation and properties of liposome-stabilized all-aqueous emulsions based on PEG/Dextran, PEG/Ficoll, and PEG/Sulfate aqueous biphasic systems. Rowland, A. R.; Keating, C. D. Soft Matter 2021, 17, 3699-3699.
Bioinspired mineralizing microenvironments generated by liquid-liquid phase coexistence. Rowland, A. T.; Cacace, D. N.; Pulati, N.; Gulley, M. L.; Keating, C. D. Chemistry of Materials 2019, 31, 10243-10255.
Aqueous emulsion droplets stabilized by lipid vesicles as microcompartments for biomimetic mineralization. Cacace, D. N.; Rowland, A. T.; Stapleton, J. J.; Dewey, D. C. and Keating, C. D. Langmuir 2015, 31, 11329-11338.
Bioreactor droplets from liposome-stabilized all-aqueous emulsions. Dewey, D. C.; Strulson, C. A.; Cacace, D. N.; Bevilacqua, P. C.; Keating, C. D. Nature Communications 2014, 5, 4670 (doi: 10.1038/ ncomms5670).
Biocatalyzed mineralization in an aqueous two-phase system: Effect of background polymers and enzyme partitioning. Cacace, D. N.; Keating, C. D. Journal of Materials Chemistry B 2013, 1, 1794-1803.