The highly curved surface of C60 fullerenes have also been shown
to enhance enzyme stability in strongly denaturing environments to
a greater extent than flat supports. The half life of a model enzyme,
soybean peroxidase, adsorbed onto fullerenes at 95°C is ~2.5-fold
higher than that of the enzyme adsorbed onto graphite flakes and
~13-fold higher than that of the native enzyme38. Similar observations
have been found with other nanoscale supports including silica and
Au nanoparticles. The ability to enhance protein stability by interfacing
them with nanomaterials may impact numerous fields ranging from
the design of diagnostics, sensors, and nanocomposites to drug
delivery38.