Building Plasmonic Materials with DNA

A/Professor Wenlong Cheng

Nanobionics Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Australia

3:30 pm Friday, 6 May 2011, EN101 Lecture Theatre (EN Building), Hawthorn.

In this talk, I will discuss our recent success in fabricating periodic plasmonic nanoparticle arrays (superlattices) by using DNA as a soft handle. We used branched DNA to develop a general modular approach for programming the assembly of multifunctional architectures. By coupling conventional DNA-based approach with a drying-mediated self-assembly process, we obtained large-area, high-quality nanoparticle superlattices stable in the dried state. Furthermore, we developed a simple yet efficient method for patterning these superlattices. Using this method, we were able to shape superlattices into versatile nanoscale features by means of micrometer-sized plastic moulds. In conjunction with a microhole-confinement, we have also created free-standing superlattice sheets in their ultimate thickness limit. In addition, I willdiscuss the unusual soft crystallization dynamics of DNA-capped nanoparticles by virtue of real-time and in-situ synchrotron-based small-angle X-ray scattering. Our results have revealed a theoretical model that can be applied in general for static and dynamic self-assembly of organically-capped nanoparticles.

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