Transmutable nanoparticles with reconfigurable surface ligands

Abstract

Colloidal particles can act as analogs of atoms for studying crystallization and packing behavior, but they don't naturally bond together the way atoms do. Short strands of DNA are one versatile way to link together colloidal particles (see the Perspective by Tao). Kim et al. designed a series of gold colloids with DNA ligands that reversibly bound to or released neighboring particles via DNA strands that opened or closed hairpin loops. Liu et al. devised a set of DNA strands that pack into origami structures. Inside each structure were strands that cage a gold nanoparticle. These were further linked to other uncaged nanoparticles to assemble a diamond-like structure. Changing the strand design yielded a wide range of sparsely packed colloidal crystals.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Feb 05, 2016
Source ID
10.1126/science.aad2212

Entities

People

  • Chad Mirkin
  • Matthew R. Jones
  • Robert J Macfarlane
  • Youngeun Kim

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • National Science Foundation
  • Northwestern University
  • United States Department of Energy

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Chemistry

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Molecular Genetics
  • Nanoscale Plasmonic Nanotechnology

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology