Infiltration of silica inside fibrillar collagen

A biosilicification approach based on infiltration of fluidic choline-stabilized silicic acid precursors into polyallylamine-enriched collagen fibrils is presented. The latter serve as template and catalyst for intrafibrillar polymerization of the silica precursors to reproduce the cross-banding and microfibrillar architecture of collagen fibrils.