Gold-decorated graphene nanosheets composed of a biocompatible non-charged water-soluble polypeptide

• Poly(L-proline) was grafted on graphene oxide through grafting to technique.
• Stabilization of gold nanoparticles in one-step, without any toxic by-product.
• Well-dispersed Au nanoparticles on the carbon nanostructure.
• The nanocomposite could find applications, in catalysis and cancer therapy.

Nanocomposite materials derived from carbon/polymer hybrids and metallic nanoparticles are of great interest due to the wide spectrum of potential applications. In this work, the biocompatible, non-charged and independent of pH, water soluble polypeptide, poly(L-proline) (PLP), was covalently grafted on exfoliated graphene oxide (GO) by a ‘grafting to’ approach, through the ring opening reaction of the surface epoxide species, enabling thus the simultaneous reduction and stabilization of as-synthesized gold nanoparticles in water in one-step, without any toxic by-product formation. The PLP-mediated GO nanocomposites serve as a new scaffold for metallic particles supported on a carbon matrix through the polypeptide mediation, and could give rise to multiple applications, in catalysis and cancer therapies.

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