Silica encapsulated biomaterials

1. A composition for formation of a silica-matrix encapsulated biomaterial, the composition comprising:

a reactive silicon compound comprising a silanol, wherein the reactive silicon compound is a hydrolyzed alkoxysilane chosen from tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS), tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl)orthosilicate (THEOS), methyldiethoxysilane (MDES), 3-(glycidoxypropyl)triethoxysilane (GPTMS), 3-(trimethyoxysilyl)propylacrylate (TMSPA), N-(3-triethoxysilylpropyl)pyrrole (TESPP), vinyltriethyoxysilane (VTES), methacryloxypropyltriethoxysilane (TESPM), diglycerylsilane (DOS), methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS), trimethylmethoxysilane (TMMS), ethyltriethoxysilane (TEES), n-propyltriethoxysilane (TEPS), n-hutyltriethyoxysilane (TEBS), 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS), 2-(2,4-dinitrophenylamino)propyltriethoxysilane, mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane (TEPMS), 2-(3-aminoethylamino)propyltriethoxysilane, isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane, and methyltriethoxysilane (MTES), or a combination thereof;

silica nanoparticles;

an organic precursor chosen from a synthetic polymer or monomer, a natural polymer or monomer, an amino acid, a saccharide, a polysaccharide, or a combination thereof; and

a biomaterial with a catalytic ability;

wherein

the silica-encapsulated biomaterial at least partially retains its catalytic ability, and

the catalytic ability of the silica-encapsulated biomaterial at 4° C. at 0 to 20 days after encapsulation exceeds the catalytic ability of a corresponding biomaterial at 4° C. that is in aqueous solution for 0 to 20 days and that is free of encapsulation by the silica-matrix formed from the composition.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the catalytic ability of the silica-encapsulated biomaterial comprises conversion of atrazine into a different compound, conversion of a fracking chemical to a less toxic compound, or conversion of a gas to at least one of a less flammable, less explosive, and less toxic compound.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the biomaterial comprises at least one of a bacteria, archaea, protist, fungi, and enzyme.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein at least one of

the biomaterial causes at least part of the catalytic activity, and

the biomaterial expresses at least one enzyme that causes the at least part of the catalytic activity.

5. The composition of claim 4 , wherein the biomaterial expresses atrazine chlorohydrolase (AtzA).

6. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising water.

7. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the organic precursor comprises polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyacrylic acid (HPAA), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA), an ethylene oxide polypropylene oxide block copolymer, an ethylene oxide propylene oxide ethylene oxide triblock copolymer, or a combination thereof.

8. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the organic precursor comprises polyethylene glycol (PEG).

9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the alkoxysilane is at least one of tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS) and methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS).

10. The silica-matrix encapsulated biomaterial formed from the composition of claim 1 .

11. A method of making the silica-matrix encapsulated biomaterial of claim 10 , the method comprising:

hydrolyzing the alkoxysilane to provide the reactive silicon compound comprising a silanol; and

forming the silica-matrix encapsulated biomaterial of claim 10 from a reactive silicon compound composition comprising the reactive silicon compound, the silica, the organic precursor, and the biomaterial with the catalytic activity, wherein the silica-encapsulated biomaterial at least partially retains its catalytic ability.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein forming comprises dropping the composition into an oil-medium to form at least one of beads and spheres of the silica-matrix encapsulated bio material.

13. The silica-matrix encapsulated biomaterial formed by the method of claim 11 .

14. A method of treating a medium, comprising:

exposing a medium containing a chemical to the silica-matrix encapsulated biomaterial of claim 13 , wherein the biomaterial has a catalytic ability comprising conversion of the chemical to a different chemical, wherein the exposing is sufficient to transform at least some of the chemical to the different chemical.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the medium comprises water.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the method of treating a medium is a method of treatment of fracking water, the water exposed to the biomaterial is fracking water, the chemical is a fracking chemical, and the different chemical is a less toxic chemical.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the method of treating a medium is a method of treatment of atrazine-containing water, the chemical is atrazine, and the biomaterial is a bacteria expressing the enzyme atrazine chlorohydrolase (AtzA).

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the medium comprises gas.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the method of treating a medium is a method of gas abatement, wherein the different chemical is at least one of less flammable, less explosive, and less toxic than the chemical that is transformed.

20. A composition for formation of a silica-matrix encapsulated biomaterial, the composition comprising:

a reactive silicon compound comprising a silanol, wherein the reactive silicon compound is a hydrolyzed alkoxysilane chosen from tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS), methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS), and a combination thereof;

silica nanoparticles;

an organic precursor that is polyethylene glycol (PEG); and

a biomaterial that is a bacteria comprising a catalytic ability, wherein the bacteria expresses the enzyme atrazine chlorohydrolase (AtzA), wherein catalytic ability is the conversion of atrazine into a different compound;

wherein

the silica-encapsulated biomaterial at least partially retains its catalytic ability, and

the catalytic ability of the silica-encapsulated biomaterial at 4° C. at 0 to 20 days after encapsulation exceeds the catalytic ability of a corresponding biomaterial at 4° C. that is in aqueous solution for 0 to 20 days and that is free of encapsulation by the silica-matrix formed from the composition.