Silica encapsulated biomaterials

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.