Biomolecular Recognition of Semiconductors and Magnetic Materials to Assemble Nanoparticle Heterostructures
Abstract
We have focused on selecting peptides to control the synthesis of semiconductor and magnetic materials and extended it to multi-dimensional architectures. We have shown that single phage selected for ZnS has a binding site (pill) on one end of the phage that can nucleate and bind up to 5 ZnS nanoparticles. We took the clones that bind to ZnS nanocrystals through the pill minor coat protein and cloned them into the pVlll major coat protein of the phage. There are 2700 copies of the pVlll protein that self-assemble to make the liner structure of the phage. More importantly, these pVlll proteins are all crystallographically related to each other. So cloning ZnS specific peptides into the crystalline coat allows us to lock in a particular orientation of the peptide on the coat and therefore translate the symmetry of the phage coat to a nucleated nanoparticle. We have used this clone to grow orientated ZnS nanoparticles along the "backbone" of the phage to make phage ZnS hybrid nanowires. Phage were also used to grow and assemble 2-6 semiconductors, gold nanoparticles and fluorescent molecules into highly ordered liquid crystalline phases and crystalline thin films.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA413918
Entities
People
- Angela M. Belcher
Organizations
- University of Texas at Austin