Characterization of flagella-templated silica nanotubes and their metallization

We demonstrate that the use of bacterial flagella as potential bio-templates allows for the generation of silica-mineralized nanotubes in an efficient manner. The process involved a well-controlled condensation and hydrolysis reaction with aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). For the tunable thickness of the silica layer, we employed various concentration ratios of TEOS and reaction time. In addition, the silica-mineralized flagella nanotubes (SMFNs) were modified to multifunctional nanotubes by coating with gold, palladium, and iron oxide.