For the synthesis of SC, whole blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) were obtained from Sobeys Supermarket in St. John's, Newfoundland. Mussels were cleaned as described by Murphy et al. and treated with acetic acid to produce SC using another method developed by Murphy et al. The structure of the synthesized SC was confirmed using an FEI Quanta 400 scanning electron microscopy (SEM), a Bruker alpha-p ATR Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and Rigaku MiniFlex 600 powder X-ray diffractometer (PXRD). Additionally, BET measurements and optical properties of SC were measured using a ATS Scientific Micromimetics 3 Flex Adsorption Analyzer and an Agilent technologies Cary 100 UV-Vis spectrophotometer equipped for diffuse reflectance (DRS).