According to scientists from the Biohybrid Materials
Viruses and proteins are ideal model particles to be used in materials science, as they are genetically encoded and have an atomically precise structure. These well-defined biological particles can be used to guide the arrangement of other nanoparticles in an aqueous solution. In the present study, the researchers show that combining native Tobacco Mosaic Virus with gold nanoparticles in a controlled manner leads to metal-protein superlattice wires.
"We initially studied geometrical aspects of nanoparticle superlattice engineering. We hypothesized that the size-ratio of oppositely charged nanorods (TMV viruses) and nanospheres (gold nanoparticles) could efficiently be used to control the two-dimensional superlattice geometry. We were actually able to demonstrate this. Even more interestingly, our structural characterization revealed details about the cooperative assembly mechanisms that proceeds in a zipper-like manner, leading to high-aspect-ratio superlattice wires," Kostiainen says. "Controlling the macroscopic habit of self-assembled nanomaterials is far from trivial," he adds.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-nanoparticles-proceeds-zipper.html#jCp
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