Reducing end thiol-modified nanocellulose: Bottom-up enzymatic synthesis and use for templated assembly of silver nanoparticles into biocidal composite material

Nanoparticle-polymer composites are important functional materials but structural control of their assembly is challenging. Owing to its crystalline internal structure and tunable nanoscale morphology, cellulose promising polymer scaffold for templating such composite materials. Here, we show bottom-up synthesis reducing end thiol-modified chains by iterative bi-enzymatic ?-1,4-glycosylation 1-thio-?-d-glucose (10 mM), a degree polymerization ?8 in yield ?41% on the donor substrate (?-d-glucose 1-phosphate, 100 mM). Synthetic oligomers self-assemble into highly ordered (cellulose allomorph II) material showing long (micrometers) thin nanosheet-like morphologies, with thickness 5–7 nm. Silver nanoparticles were attached selectively well dispersed surface cellulose, excellent (? 95%) high loading efficiency (?2.2 g silver/g thiol-cellulose). Examined against Escherichia coli Staphylococcus aureus, surface-patterned biocidal activity. Bottom-up approach chemical design nanocomposite presented. thiol-containing nanocellulose can expand scope top-down produced