Artificial proteases based on polyoxo/hydroxo zirconate clusters

Zirconia  (ZrO2) is one of the most common metal oxides present in Earth’s crust. In its bulk form zirconia finds broad applications as cell electrolyte, gate dielectric or chromatographic support, while zirconia nanoparticles supported on Au, Ag and Cu are efficient catalyst for the water-gas shift reaction, methanol synthesis and CO oxidation.

The synthesis and the characterization of nanoscopic zirconium-oxo/-hydroxo clusters (circa 1 nm), herein referred to as polyoxo-/hydroxozircoantes (POZrs), are of high research interest in homo- and heterogeneous catalysis as these materials combine the structural properties of nanoscale zirconia with flexible surface functionalization by all-inorganic or organic moieties. As exemplified by our preliminary results, these structural features make these emerging materials very promising candidates for applications as artificial enzymes in biotechnology.

This project provides and interdisciplinary approach employing both theoretical and experimental techniques in the study of the structure, stability and catalytic activity of POZrs in the context of peptide bond and protein hydrolysis. The valuable insights from the fundamental studies are effectively utilized for the development of novel POZr based catalysts for selective protein hydrolysis.