Bionanosphere lithography via hierarchical peptide self-assembly of aromatic triphenylalanine

Small. 2010 Apr 23;6(8):945-51. doi: 10.1002/smll.200902050.

Abstract

A nanolithographic approach based on hierarchical peptide self-assembly is presented. An aromatic peptide of N-(t-Boc)-terminated triphenylalanine is designed from a structural motif for the beta-amyloid associated with Alzheimer's disease. This peptide adopts a turnlike conformation with three phenyl rings oriented outward, which mediate intermolecular pi-pi stacking interactions and eventually facilitate highly crystalline bionanosphere assembly with both thermal and chemical stability. The self-assembled bionanospheres spontaneously pack into a hexagonal monolayer at the evaporating solvent edge, constituting evaporation-induced hierarchical self-assembly. Metal nanoparticle arrays or embossed Si nanoposts could be successfully created from the hexagonal bionanosphere array masks in conjunction with a conventional metal-evaporation or etching process. Our approach represents a bionanofabrication concept that biomolecular self-assembly is hierarchically directed to establish a straightforward nanolithography compatible with conventional device-fabrication processes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biocompatible Materials / chemistry*
  • Nanospheres / chemistry*
  • Nanospheres / ultrastructure
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Particle Size
  • Peptides / chemical synthesis*
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Phenylalanine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Phenylalanine / chemical synthesis*
  • Phenylalanine / chemistry
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
  • Thermogravimetry
  • X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

  • Biocompatible Materials
  • N-(t-butyloxycarbonyl)-protected triphenylalanine
  • Peptides
  • Phenylalanine