Au nanocrystal growth on nanotubes controlled by conformations and charges of sequenced peptide templates

A new biological approach to fabricate Au nanowires was examined by using sequenced peptide nanotubes as templates. The sequenced histidine-rich peptide molecules were assembled on nanotubes, and the biological recognition of the sequenced peptide selectively trapped Au ions for the nucleation of Au nanocrystals. After Au ions were reduced, highly monodisperse Au nanocrystals were grown on nanotubes. The conformations and the charge distributions of the histidine-rich peptide, determined by pH and Au ion concentration in the growth solution, control the size and the packing density of Au nanocrystals. The diameter of Au nanocrystal was limited by the spacing between the neighboring histidine-rich peptides on nanotubes. A series of TEM images of Au nanocrystals on nanotubes in the shorter Au ion incubation time periods reveal that Au nanocrystals grow inside the nanotubes first and then cover the outer surfaces of nanotubes. Therefore, multiple materials will be coated inside and outside the nanotubes respectively by controlling doping ion concentrations and their deposition sequences. It should be noted that metallic nanocrystals in diameter around 6 nm are in the size domain to observe a significant conductivity change by changing the packing density, and therefore this system may be developed into a conductivity-tunable building block.