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Peptides used to make light-twisting nanoparticles

The growth of gold nanoparticles has been manipulated using amino acids and peptides to produce twisted structures that alter the rotation of light. The method could simplify the development of optical devices.
  1. Guillermo González-Rubio
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  2. Luis M. Liz-Marzán
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Nanoparticles that control the rotation of light have potential applications, for example in optical devices1 and sensors2, but preparing such particles has been difficult, especially from crystalline metals. In a paper in Nature, Lee et al.3 report a remarkable method that uses amino acids or peptides (small molecules formed from amino acids) to direct the dissymmetric growth of gold nanoparticles that have a twisted morphology. The findings open up radical opportunities for the preparation of materials and devices that control light rotation.

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Nature 556, 313-314 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-04205-1

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