Abstract
A bio-templated approach for the synthesis of multiple inorganic materials has been presented that correlates with the role of a 3-dimensional peptide template in controlling the overall reactivity of the fabricated materials for a variety of chemical reactions. The role of self-assembling R5 peptide for the formation of metallic nanoparticles including Pd, Au and Pt has been described. The materials were fully characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering analysis, transmission electron microscopy and powder-X ray diffraction analysis. Also, the materials were employed as efficient catalysts for the Stille coupling reaction, 4-nitrophenol reduction as well as olefin hydrogenation reactions. These results are important as these template-based materials could potentially serve as candidates for a variety of applications ranging from bio- sensing to catalysis to energy production.