Protein-based functional nanoparticles: Comparision of strategies for design and engineering

This Ph.D. thesis focuses on engineering protein-based functional nanoparticles that have attractive structural and functional properties. Different strategies in designing and engineering such nanoparticles have been studied and compared. The strategies include: i) covalent immobilisation of protein on silica nanoparticles, ii) non-covalent affinity immobilisation of proteins on silica and iron oxide nanoparticles, iii) self-assembly peptides for formation of protein-only nanoparticles, and iv) combination of self-assembly and affinity adsorption to form clusters of hybrid protein-iron oxide nanoparticles. This research has built a new platform for designing protein-based functional nanomaterials that may have diverse application in biomedical, health, and environmental sectors.