Casting Inorganic Nanostructure Arrays with 3D DNA Crystal Molds

该基金用于研究使用带有可编程三维腔的DNA晶体作为“模具”，制造具有规定三维形状的无机纳米结构阵列。这项工作的关键创新是开发了一个通用平台，可以使用微米级多孔DNA晶体作为模板来控制无机材料的形状和结构安排。具有规定的三维空腔的DNA晶体将在一个锅或一个反应器的反应中组装。这些腔将作为纳米模具，随后在模腔内的金属结构的原位铸造将产生规定形状的金属颗粒，重要的是，这些颗粒将在微米尺度上以3nm的精度排列。该研究结果将为具有规定形貌的金属纳米结构阵列、低于10纳米的制造分辨率和3纳米的定位精度提供一种大规模生产方法。这将为无机材料的纳米制造提供一个通用的平台，反过来，在从生物传感到能量存储和光子学等领域实现各种变革性应用。例如，金属颗粒阵列可以作为开发高灵敏度和多路复用（多信号）生物传感器阵列的启用平台，以检测生物医学相关目标。精确控制金属结构的电子结组成、取向和间距可以提高光伏电池的光转换效率。

This grant is for research in the fabrication of arrays of inorganic nanostructures with prescribed three-dimensional shapes using DNA crystals with programmable three-dimensional cavities as "molds". The key innovation in this work is to develop a general platform to enable the use of micron-scale porous DNA crystals as templates to control both the shape and the architectural arrangements for inorganic materials. DNA crystals with prescribed three-dimensional cavities will be assembled in one-pot or one-reactor reactions. The cavities will serve as nano-molds, and the subsequent in-situ casting of metal structures within the mold cavities will produce metal particles of prescribed shapes, and importantly, these particles will be arranged with 3 nm precision over micron-scales.The results of this research will provide a mass production methodology for metal nanostructure arrays with prescribed morphologies and with sub-10 nm fabrication resolution and 3 nm positioning precision. This will provide a generalizable platform for the nanofabrication of inorganic materials, and, in turn, enable diverse transformative applications in fields ranging from bio-sensing to energy storage and photonics. For example, the metal particle arrays could serve as an enabling platform for developing highly sensitive and multiplexed (multiple signals) biosensor arrays to detect biomedically relevant targets. The precise control of electronic junction composition, orientation, and spacing of the metal structures could facilitate high photo-conversion efficiency in photovoltaics.