Making molds for metal nanoparticles using DNA

Science Focus

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Thanks to base pairing, a carefully designed DNA molecule can fold into all sorts of interesting shapes.

Caltech

Controlling the shape of tiny, inorganic structures could help us build light harvesting devices and other nanophotonic equipment. Previous methods for making them were limited in terms of controlling things like size, symmetry, and shape, and there were problems with scalability for commercialization.

Recently, researchers have developed DNA nanotechnology, which allows us to rationally design and synthesize nanoscopic structures with specific shapes. They've now used the successes they’ve had with DNA to develop an innovative approach to making 3D inorganic structures with specific shapes.

Researchers used computational modeling to design the shape of a 3D DNA cavity that is then created by self-assembled DNA strands—base pairing dictates how the DNA folds up in three dimensions. The DNA structure then acts as a mold for casting metal nanoparticles into desired 3D shapes, including asymmetric ones. Computational design of the DNA mold involved optimizing its structural stiffness and the dimensions of the internal cavity.

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