Fibers, hydro- and aerogels of biopolymers and metallic nanoparticles
The research group is developing methods for the preparation of biopolymer hydrogels and aerogels, such as amyloid proteins and polysaccharides, as platforms for encapsulating inorganic nanoparticles and functional molecules to address health problems such as cell growth, tissue engineering or drug delivery. Recently, our group has described the formation of amyloid-like fibres for ferritin. This protein is involved in iron homeostasis in the brain, so the study of its denaturation could also be related to some neurodegenerative diseases.