Using Life’s Building Blocks to Control Nanoparticle Assembly

August 23, 2007

Using DNA, the molecule that carries life’s genetic instructions, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory are studying how to control both the speed of nanoparticle assembly and the structure of its resulting nanoclusters. Learning how to control and tailor the assembly of nanoparticles, which have dimensions on the order of billionths of a meter, could potentially lead to applications ranging from more efficient energy generation and data storage to cell-targeted systems for drug delivery. Mathew Maye, a chemist in Brookhaven’s newly opened Center for Functional Nanomaterials, will present the latest findings in this field at the 234th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. (Brookhaven National Laboratory)