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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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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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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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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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1025
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