Selective biomineralization of Co3(PO4)2-sponges triggered by His-tagged proteins: efficient heterogeneous biocatalysts for redox processes.

We report a selective method to make functional bio-inorganic materials by mineralizing cobalt-phosphate in the presence of His-tagged enzymes. We have demonstrated that the His-tag drives the biomineralization forming sponge-like structures where both inorganic and biological elements co-localize. The bio-inorganic catalysts were re-used for several redox reaction cycles demonstrating their potential to be used in synthetic chemistry.