Potato virus A (PVA) is a plant-infecting RNA virus that produces flexible particles with a high aspect ratio. PVA has been investigated extensively for its infection biology, however, its potential to serve as a nanopatterning platform remains unexplored. Here, we study the liquid crystal and interfacial self-assembly behavior of PVA particles. Furthermore, we generate nanopatterned surfaces using self-assembled PVA particles through three different coating techniques: drop-casting, drop-top deposition and flow-coating. The liquid crystal phase of PVA solution visualized by polarized optical microscopy revealed a chiral nematic phase in water, while in pH 8 buffer it produced a nematic phase. This allowed us to produce thin films with either randomly or anisotropically oriented cylindrical nanopatterns using drop-top and flow-coating methods. Overall, this study explores the self-assembly process of PVA in different conditions, establishing a starting point for PVA self-assembly research and contributing a virus-assisted fabrication technique for nanopatterned surfaces.
Keywords: Bio-templates; Liquid crystal; Nanopatterning; Potato virus A; Self-assembly; Virus nanoparticles.
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