Superlattices set to have optical and electronic application
1 min read
Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have organised virus particles, protein cages and nanoparticles into crystalline materials and believe they may have application in sensing, optics, electronics and drug delivery.
According to the team, layered structures of crystalline nanoparticles – superlattices – have been studied extensively in recent years. It says its research has created hierarchically structured nanomaterials with tuneable optical, magnetic, electronic and catalytic properties.
Such biohybrid superlattices, says the team, would allow the best features of both particle types to be combined to take advantage of the versatility of synthetic nanoparticles and the highly controlled assembly properties of biomolecules.
The research group also discovered that magnetic self assemblies of ferritin protein cages and gold nanoparticles can modulate the spin–spin relaxation times of surrounding protons in water, enhancing the contrast in magnetic resonance imaging.
The gold nanoparticles and viruses are said to adopt a crystal structure that does not correspond to any known atomic or molecular crystal structure and which has previously not been observed with nano sized particles.
