NER: Biotemplate Directed Assembly of Nanocrystal Arrays

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT Proposal No. CTS-0210220 Title NER: Biotemplate Directed Assembly of Nanocrystal Arrays Principal Investigator: Yu, Michael, Johns Hopkins U The assembly of well defined 2D nanocrystal arrays of semiconducting and metallic materials using biologically assembled nanoscale template is the major goal in the proposed project. The PI will explore the purple membrane, a naturally occurring membrane protein crystal patch from halobacteria as a precisely structured nanoscale template. The key is to develop genetically engineered purple membranes that display unique functional groups on the membrane surfaces with well defined nanoscale symmetry. These reactive functional groups are used as specific anchoring sites for nanocrystals immobilization.