Beta‐Lactoglobulin for Water‐Based and Tunable Nanostructure Templating of Printed Titania Thin Films: The Influence of pH Value and Protein Concentration

Abstract An environmentally friendly as well as scalable synthesis route of nanostructured titania thin films is of interest for many state‐of‐the‐art devices, from solar cells to battery materials. Beta‐lactoglobulin (ß‐lg) enables water‐based and tunable titania thin film templating, allowing for...

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Main Authors: Linus F. Huber, Kun Sun, Manuel A. Reus, Christian L. Weindl, Julian E. Heger, Stephan V. Roth, Peter Müller‐Buschbaum
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley-VCH 2025-07-01
Series:Advanced Materials Interfaces
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400929
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author Linus F. Huber
Kun Sun
Manuel A. Reus
Christian L. Weindl
Julian E. Heger
Stephan V. Roth
Peter Müller‐Buschbaum
author_facet Linus F. Huber
Kun Sun
Manuel A. Reus
Christian L. Weindl
Julian E. Heger
Stephan V. Roth
Peter Müller‐Buschbaum
author_sort Linus F. Huber
collection DOAJ
description Abstract An environmentally friendly as well as scalable synthesis route of nanostructured titania thin films is of interest for many state‐of‐the‐art devices, from solar cells to battery materials. Beta‐lactoglobulin (ß‐lg) enables water‐based and tunable titania thin film templating, allowing for different domain sizes, porosities, and morphologies. When printed with a slot‐die coater, the titania films can be tailored to specific applications with simple changes to the solution chemistry. Films printed at acidic pH conditions form significantly different final morphologies than films printed at a neutral pH value. The protein concentration plays a more limited role in the final nanostructure. With in situ grazing incidence small‐angle/wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (GISAXS/GIWAXS), the structure formation is followed with an excellent time resolution during the printing process. From the GISAXS measurements, the size evolution of the titania clusters is understood, showing significant differences for different pH values. Crystal phases and corresponding crystal orientations are investigated with GIWAXS. The combination of a water‐based titania synthesis with the scalable film deposition via slot die coating makes the presented results interesting for potential environmentally friendly mass production of nanostructured titania films.
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id doaj-art-ff8cc662258442e7bfbc463adcf92a04
institution DOAJ
issn 2196-7350
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publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Wiley-VCH
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series Advanced Materials Interfaces
spelling doaj-art-ff8cc662258442e7bfbc463adcf92a042025-08-20T02:40:59ZengWiley-VCHAdvanced Materials Interfaces2196-73502025-07-011213n/an/a10.1002/admi.202400929Beta‐Lactoglobulin for Water‐Based and Tunable Nanostructure Templating of Printed Titania Thin Films: The Influence of pH Value and Protein ConcentrationLinus F. Huber0Kun Sun1Manuel A. Reus2Christian L. Weindl3Julian E. Heger4Stephan V. Roth5Peter Müller‐Buschbaum6TUM School of Natural Sciences Department of Physics Chair for Functional Materials Technical University of Munich James‐Franck‐Str. 1 85748 Garching GermanyTUM School of Natural Sciences Department of Physics Chair for Functional Materials Technical University of Munich James‐Franck‐Str. 1 85748 Garching GermanyTUM School of Natural Sciences Department of Physics Chair for Functional Materials Technical University of Munich James‐Franck‐Str. 1 85748 Garching GermanyTUM School of Natural Sciences Department of Physics Chair for Functional Materials Technical University of Munich James‐Franck‐Str. 1 85748 Garching GermanyTUM School of Natural Sciences Department of Physics Chair for Functional Materials Technical University of Munich James‐Franck‐Str. 1 85748 Garching GermanyDeutsches Elektronen‐Synchrotron DESY Notkestraße 85 22607 Hamburg GermanyTUM School of Natural Sciences Department of Physics Chair for Functional Materials Technical University of Munich James‐Franck‐Str. 1 85748 Garching GermanyAbstract An environmentally friendly as well as scalable synthesis route of nanostructured titania thin films is of interest for many state‐of‐the‐art devices, from solar cells to battery materials. Beta‐lactoglobulin (ß‐lg) enables water‐based and tunable titania thin film templating, allowing for different domain sizes, porosities, and morphologies. When printed with a slot‐die coater, the titania films can be tailored to specific applications with simple changes to the solution chemistry. Films printed at acidic pH conditions form significantly different final morphologies than films printed at a neutral pH value. The protein concentration plays a more limited role in the final nanostructure. With in situ grazing incidence small‐angle/wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (GISAXS/GIWAXS), the structure formation is followed with an excellent time resolution during the printing process. From the GISAXS measurements, the size evolution of the titania clusters is understood, showing significant differences for different pH values. Crystal phases and corresponding crystal orientations are investigated with GIWAXS. The combination of a water‐based titania synthesis with the scalable film deposition via slot die coating makes the presented results interesting for potential environmentally friendly mass production of nanostructured titania films.https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400929beta‐lactoglobulinin situ GISAXSprintingprotein templatingtitania nanostructure
spellingShingle Linus F. Huber
Kun Sun
Manuel A. Reus
Christian L. Weindl
Julian E. Heger
Stephan V. Roth
Peter Müller‐Buschbaum
Beta‐Lactoglobulin for Water‐Based and Tunable Nanostructure Templating of Printed Titania Thin Films: The Influence of pH Value and Protein Concentration
Advanced Materials Interfaces
beta‐lactoglobulin
in situ GISAXS
printing
protein templating
titania nanostructure
title Beta‐Lactoglobulin for Water‐Based and Tunable Nanostructure Templating of Printed Titania Thin Films: The Influence of pH Value and Protein Concentration
title_full Beta‐Lactoglobulin for Water‐Based and Tunable Nanostructure Templating of Printed Titania Thin Films: The Influence of pH Value and Protein Concentration
title_fullStr Beta‐Lactoglobulin for Water‐Based and Tunable Nanostructure Templating of Printed Titania Thin Films: The Influence of pH Value and Protein Concentration
title_full_unstemmed Beta‐Lactoglobulin for Water‐Based and Tunable Nanostructure Templating of Printed Titania Thin Films: The Influence of pH Value and Protein Concentration
title_short Beta‐Lactoglobulin for Water‐Based and Tunable Nanostructure Templating of Printed Titania Thin Films: The Influence of pH Value and Protein Concentration
title_sort beta lactoglobulin for water based and tunable nanostructure templating of printed titania thin films the influence of ph value and protein concentration
topic beta‐lactoglobulin
in situ GISAXS
printing
protein templating
titania nanostructure
url https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400929
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