Fabrication of 1-dimensional nanowires from genetically modified M13 phage through surfactant-mediated hybridization and the applications in medical diagnosis, energy devices, and catalysis

Biological building blocks served as excellent templates for the preparation of various nano-materials due to their beneficial interactions at the molecular level. The bio-mineralization of genetically engineered M13 bacteriophage resulted in one-dimensional nanowires having outstanding properties in diverse applications. As a bridge between the chemical synthesis of nanostructures and the bio-mineralization of M13 phage, surfactant molecules were introduced to the biological systems. The specific affinity of M13 phage with Au-binding peptides was strong enough to attract Au ions despite the existence of surfactant molecules. Consequently, the surfactant-mediated bio-mineralization of M13 phage enabled us to precisely control the morphologies and structures in nanometer scale. The Au-binding M13 phage could also integrate other noble metals (Ag/Pt/Pd) to prepare homogeneous Au-based noble metal alloy nanowires in structures and compositions, and their electrochemical properties upon the systematic changes in compositions were investigated. Especially for the Au-Pt system, the catalytic activity study on the two distinct structures, the alloy and the core/shell, provided us important factors to design new catalysts with optimized activities.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Youjin

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Angela M. Belcher.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59223

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/59223