Development of an Optobioelectronic Switch Based on the Functionalization of Gold Nanoparticles with Photoisomerizable Thiols

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An MPS Distinguished International Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (MPS-DRF) will be used to develop an optobioelectronic switch by functionalizing gold nanoparticles with photoisomerizable thiols. There will be three stages in this project: (1) Synthesis and characterization of gold particles, (2) functionalization of nanoparticles with photoisomerizable molecules and characterization of the transduction of the optical signal using bulk measurement techniques, and (3) use of STM-SNOM to simultaneously provide the optical signal and measure the electrochemical transduction of that signal at a functionized nanoparticle. Most of the program will be hosted at Wolfgang Knoll's group at the Max Planck Institut fur Polymerforschung, where expertise will be provided in surface functionalization and characterization and the infrastructure necessary to achieve the objectives of this project. One month will be spent at Franz Aussenegg's group at the Institut fur Experimentalphysik at the Karl-Franzens-Universitat Graz, Austria, where there is expertise with nano-optics necessary to use the STM-SNOM system for these experiments. Another month will be spent with Itamar Willner in the Department of Organic Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, where the thiols will be provided and also advice will be obtained on implementing them in building the proposed optobioelectronic switch.