Nanocrystals assemblies

An equally important challenge for nanocrystal assembly is the fonnation of specific nanocrystal arrangements in solution. By using complementary DNA strands as tethers, Mirkin et al [102, 103] fonned aggregates of gold nanocrystals with specific sizes Alivisatos et al also used DNA to stmcture semiconductor nanocrystal molecules, though in this case the molecules contained only a few nanocrystals placed controlled distances from each other [104, 105 and 106]. The potential applications of biomolecular teclmiques to this area of nanoscience are immense, and the opportunities have been reviewed in several recent publications [107, 108, 109 and 110]. 

Murray, C. B., Kagan, C. R. and Bawendi, M. G. (2000) Synthesis and characterization of monodisperse nanocrystals and close-packed nanocrystal assemblies. Anna. Rev. Mater. Sci., 30, 545-610. 

Optical characteristics of nanocrystals and nanocrystal assemblies have been extensively studied in the past,66,67 whereas their electronic properties have attracted considerable attention only recently.68"70 Charge transport in... 

Whaley SR, English DS, Hu EL, Barbara PF, Belcher AM. Selection of peptides with semiconductor binding specificity for directed nanocrystal assembly. Nature 2000 405 665-8. 

CdSe nanocrystals assembled by evaporation of a suspension (2D array) or by changing the polarity of the solvent (3D array) Capillary forces nm 36, 38, 40... 

Fig. 9.8. Tetramers and hexamers of 10 nm Au nanocrystals assembled as chains of pairs of particles using DNA and enzymatic ligation. Collaborative work with Prof Jean Frechet [22]...

E. R. Leite. Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, chapter Nanocrystals assembled from bottom-up, pages 537-550. American Scientific Publishers, 2004... 

---