Aggregation of inorganic nanoparticles mediated by biomimetic oligomers

Assemblies of nanoparticles (NPs) have been broadly used for the construction of materials with unique spectroscopic and chiral properties for applications in various scientific disciplines such as sensing, bio-nanotechnology and medicine. Mediating the aggregation of NPs by synthetic biomimetic oligomers, namely, DNA, PNA, peptides and peptide mimics, rather than by small organic molecules has been shown to produce interesting supramolecular structures and enable the combination of the biocompatibility of the mediators and the spectroscopic properties of the NPs. Yet, the key to using this powerful approach for designing new functional materials is to understand the NPs aggregation patterns induced by biopolymers and biomimetic oligomers. Herein we describe the important developments in this field, from early studies to recent work with an emphasis on synthetic methods and tools for controlled assembly of metal NPs by biomimetic polymers and oligomers.