THIS GRANT IS A CONTINUATION OF N000141510043 Functional Crystals Through Encodable Hard and Soft Matter
Abstract
The future of functional materials depends on the development of new syntheticstrategies for generating materials with highly desirable but currently inaccessible chemical andphysical properties. Although silicon has interested scientists for centuries, it was not untilmethods were developed for engineering single crystal silicon that the electronics industry wasrevolutionized. Analogously, we believe the ability to assemble nanomaterials utilizing theprogrammable nature of DNA over many length scales will transform several areas, includingthe fields of catalysis, sensing, and optics. To date, DNA programmed materials have mainlyfocused on the synthesis of superlattices formed from a small subset of inorganic nanomaterials.However, conceptually any particle, including an engineered protein or virus, can be modified insimilar ways to create a wide class of ~programmable atom equivalents~ that can be assembledinto preconceived and deliberately designed single crystal architectures. Through the NSSEFFgrant we will use rigorously tested design principles to create novel and functional materialsbased upon the precise placement of particle constituents. Specifically, our proposed project willfocus on five interrelated areas: 1) the development of nucleic acid functionalized buildingblocks from both hard and soft matter; 2) methods for guiding their assembly into superlatticeswith controlled crystalline morphologies; 3) novel catalytic materials with programmableperiodic architectural parameters, 4) their utilization as ultrasensitive biodetection systems withunusual and potentially useful molecular recognition and amplification properties, and 5) thedevelopment of optically responsive materials from single crystal architectures of nanoparticlesuperlattices.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 23, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141613117
Entities
People
- Chad Mirkin
Organizations
- Northwestern University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy