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Platinum nanocrystals selectively shaped using facet-specific peptide sequences

Nature Chemistry volume 3, pages 393–399 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

The properties of a nanocrystal are heavily influenced by its shape. Shape control of a colloidal nanocrystal is believed to be a kinetic process, with high-energy facets growing faster then vanishing, leading to nanocrystals enclosed by low-energy facets. Identifying a surfactant that can specifically bind to a particular crystal facet is critical, but has proved challenging to date. Biomolecules have exquisite specific molecular recognition properties that can be explored for the precise engineering of nanostructured materials. Here, we report the use of facet-specific peptide sequences as regulating agents for the predictable synthesis of platinum nanocrystals with selectively exposed crystal surfaces and particular shapes. The formation of platinum nanocubes and nanotetrahedrons are demonstrated with Pt-{100} and Pt-{111} binding peptides, respectively. Our studies unambiguously demonstrate the abilities of facet-selective binding peptides in determining nanocrystal shape, representing a critical step forward in the use of biomolecules for programmable synthesis of nanostructures.

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Figure 1: Biomimetic approach to the predictable synthesis of shaped nanocrystals.
Figure 2: Shape evolution of T7-regulated platinum cube synthesis.
Figure 3: Shape evolution of S7-regulated platinum tetrahedron synthesis.
Figure 4: Nanocrystal shape transformation by switching T7 to S7 in reactions.

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Acknowledgements

C-Y.C., Y.L., L.R. and Y.H. acknowledge support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) (award N00014-08-1-0985), the Army Research Office (ARO) (award 54709-MS-PCS and MURI award W911NF-08-1-0364) and from the Sloan Research Fellowship. C-Y.C., Y.L., L.R. and Y.H. also acknowledge the Electron Imaging Center of Nanomachines for TEM support and Y. Tang for LC-MS support. X.Y. and C.B.M. acknowledge the support for metal nanocrystal synthesis from the Department of Energy's Division of Basic Energy Sciences (award DE-SC0002158) and the ARO (MURI award W911NF-08-1-0364).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Chin-Yi Chiu, Yujing Li, Lingyan Ruan & Yu Huang

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 19104, Pennsylvania, USA

    Xingchen Ye & Christopher B. Murray

  3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 19104, Pennsylvania, USA

    Christopher B. Murray

  4. California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Yu Huang

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  1. Chin-Yi Chiu
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Contributions

Y.H. and C-Y.C. conceived and designed the experiments. C-Y.C. performed the experiments. C-Y.C. and Y.L. collected and analysed the data. L.R., X.Y. and C.B.M. contributed to preparing starting nanoparticle substrates for peptide selection. C-Y.C., Y.L. and Y.H. co-wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yu Huang.

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Chiu, CY., Li, Y., Ruan, L. et al. Platinum nanocrystals selectively shaped using facet-specific peptide sequences. Nature Chem 3, 393–399 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1025

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