DNA-Programmable Assembly of Nanoparticles into Precision Anisotropic Architectures

纳米粒子自组装成精确的各向异性结构引起了学术界和工业界的极大兴趣，因为生成的纳米结构可以提供独特的性能，这在医学、催化、传感、光学、电子和能源相关领域的各种应用中都很有用。核酸是极具吸引力的配体，可用于指导粒子组装，因为它们具有显著的分子识别特性和基于特定沃森-克里克碱基配对相互作用的可编程性质。在本项目中，申请人将专注于通过dna编程组装在溶液和表面上构建精确的各向异性纳米粒子结构，并探索其在生物传感、催化、光学和电子方面的潜在应用。由于互补DNA序列之间络合的特异性和可调性，使用最先进的DNA纳米技术工具将获得前所未有的精度的新结构。该项目不仅将建立制备各向异性纳米颗粒组件（如Janus纳米颗粒和链状组件）的一般策略，而且还将显著拓宽传统方法无法实现的纳米颗粒结构的拓扑结构。更重要的是，这些各向异性结构将在催化、生物医学、光学和电子器件中实现许多新的应用。申请人在聚合物科学、生物分子、纳米材料合成和纳米光谱学方面的强大理论背景和杰出的实验专业知识对于实现项目的关键目标至关重要，例如通过聚合物辅助方法实现纳米颗粒与DNA的区域选择性功能化，探索新颖的各向异性结构，特别是具有不同拓扑结构的聚合物样组件。以及成功制备了用于纳米颗粒组装的具有DNA功能的图案表面。此外，导师将为申请人在DNA纳米技术和纳米材料制备方面提供全面有效的指导，提供良好的研究环境，充足的资金和所有必要的基础设施和设施，以及良好的合作机会和长期职业发展的有力支持。这些支持将确保项目的成功实施，并使申请人成为一名非常有前途和竞争力的职业成熟的青年科学家。

The self-assembly of nanoparticles into precision anisotropic architectures has attracted great interest in both academia and industry because the generated nanostructures can offer unique properties, which are useful for diverse applications in medicine, catalysis, sensing, optics, electronics, and energy-related areas. Nucleic acids are extremely attractive ligands that can be used for directing particle assembly because they have remarkable molecular recognition properties and programmable nature based on the specific Watson-Crick base pairing interactions. In this project, the applicant will focus on constructing precision anisotropic nanoparticle architectures both in solution and onto surfaces via DNA-programmed assembly, and exploring their potential applications in biosensing, catalysis, optics, and electronics. Due to the specificity and tunability of the complexation between complimentary DNA sequences, novel structures with unprecedented precision will be obtained using state-of-the-art tools in DNA nanotechnology. This project will not only establish general strategies for preparing anisotropic nanoparticle assemblies such as Janus nanoparticles and chain-like assemblies, but will also significantly broaden the topologies of nanoparticle architectures which are not achievable with traditional methods. More importantly, these anisotropic structures will enable many new applications in catalysis, biomedicine, and optical and electronic devices. The applicant’s strong theoretical background and distinguished experimental expertise in polymer science, biomolecules, nanomaterial synthesis and nanolithography are vital to achieve the key goals in the project, such as the regioselective functionalization of nanoparticles with DNA via polymer-assisted approaches, the exploration of novel anisotropic architectures especially polymer-like assemblies with different topologies, and the successful preparation of patterned surfaces with DNA functionalities for nanoparticle assembly. In addition, the supervisor will provide the applicant with comprehensive and effective guidance in DNA nanotechnology and nanomaterial preparation, an outstanding research environment with sufficient funding and all necessary infrastructures and facilities, as well as excellent collaboration opportunities and strong support for long-term career development. These supports will ensure the successful implementation of the project and allow the applicant to become an extremely promising and competitive young scientist with career maturity.