Well-designed protein amyloid nanofibrils composites as versatile and sustainable materials for aquatic environment remediation: A review

Xiaolin Zhang; Mamitiana Roger Razanajatovo; Xuedong Du; Shuo Wang; Li Feng; Shunli Wan; Ningyi Chen; Qingrui Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.eehl.2023.09.003

Well-designed protein amyloid nanofibrils composites as versatile and sustainable materials for aquatic environment remediation: A review

Eco Environ Health. 2023 Sep 20;2(4):264-277. doi: 10.1016/j.eehl.2023.09.003. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Xiaolin Zhang¹, Mamitiana Roger Razanajatovo¹, Xuedong Du¹, Shuo Wang¹, Li Feng¹, Shunli Wan², Ningyi Chen³, Qingrui Zhang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Hebei Key Laboratory of Heavy Metal Deep-Remediation in Water and Resource Reuse and Hebei Key Laboratory of Applied Chemistry, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China.
² College of Life & Environment Sciences, Huangshan University, Huangshan 245041, China.
³ College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China.

Abstract

Amyloid nanofibrils (ANFs) are supramolecular polymers originally classified as pathological markers in various human degenerative diseases. However, in recent years, ANFs have garnered greater interest and are regarded as nature-based sustainable biomaterials in environmental science, material engineering, and nanotechnology. On a laboratory scale, ANFs can be produced from food proteins via protein unfolding, misfolding, and hydrolysis. Furthermore, ANFs have specific structural characteristics such as a high aspect ratio, good rigidity, chemical stability, and a controllable sequence. These properties make them a promising functional material in water decontamination research. As a result, the fabrication and application of ANFs and their composites in water purification have recently gained considerable attention. Despite the large amount of literature in this field, there is a lack of systematic review to assess the gap in using ANFs and their composites to remove contaminants from water. This review discusses significant advancements in design techniques as well as the physicochemical properties of ANFs-based composites. We also emphasize the current progress in using ANFs-based composites to remove inorganic, organic, and biological contaminants. The interaction mechanisms between ANFs-based composites and contaminants are also highlighted. Finally, we illustrate the challenges and opportunities associated with the future preparation and application of ANFs-based composites. We anticipate that this review will shed new light on the future design and use of ANFs-based composites.

Keywords: Adsorption; Amyloid nanofibrils; Characteristics; Composites; Preparation.

Publication types

Review