Fast Fabrication And Characterization Of Nano-PbS On Different Feathers

Materials are fundamentals of human being Material Civilization.Properties of materials depend on not only the compositions, but also thestructures, especially fine structures from macro to micro scope. Thedevelopment of modern high technology has presented materialsscientists more and more strict challenges about materials design andfabrication. But biomaterials can meet various rigid requirements tosatisfy the current demands of technology.A rapid method towards nano-PbS on feathers was reported in thiswork and this is inspired by a hair-dyeing technology used in AncientEgypt thousands of years ago. Original porous pigeon feathers and rod-shaped peacock feathers were sulfhydrylated by2,3-dimercaptosuccinicacid (DMSA) dissolved in alcohol to enhance reaction sites, and then wasimmersed in the saturated PbO solution in calcium hydroxide and got thePbS feathers. The whole process is only two steps and could be finishedwithin two hours. The morphology and structures of the sample weremeasured by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy(SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) and results showedthat the structure of original feathers was well duplicated. Compared withprevious works, this method is faster and more efficient and thus has potentials to be expanded to fast fabricate other functional sulfides.As one of the bio-templating strategies, this work may help promotethe research in the optical applications inspired by these nature-constructed fine structures, which are effective in controlling light but aretoo complicated to fabricate otherwise.