Biologically Encapsulating Gold Nanoclusters: Exploring the Bioinspiration Strategy for Preparing Advanced Electrode Materials

Engineered nanoparticles and nanoplastics have emerged as a category of pollutants that, when present in the environment, could be absorbed and accumulated by plant systems. This study demonstrates a way of using live wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to take up and collect gold nanoclusters and nanopolystyrene and eliminate them, and the harvested biomass is then processed into carbon compounds for energy storage applications. This methodology not only enables the straightforward encapsulation of gold nanoclusters but also utilizes absorbable nanopolystyrene to create pores during carbonization. The absorbed gold nanoclusters lead to enhanced ionic transport rates across the carbon material and a reduction in resistance. The carbon compounds made have a hierarchical Murray porous structure and a large specific surface area of 1907.08 m2·g-1, which is almost 1.74 times higher than that of the control group. The fabricated electrode materials exhibit a specific capacitance of 461.5 F·g-1 in 6 M KOH at a current density of 0.5 A·g-1. This approach addresses numerous issues associated with other confined metal nanocluster methods and also paves the way for the integration of energy storage and environmental restoration, indicating significant potential for advancement.