DMREF/Collaborative Research: Architecting DNA Nanodevices into Metamaterials, Transducing Materials, and Assembling Materials

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

Soft architected materials self-assembled from nanoscale building blocks could have far-reaching applications in sensing, soft-robotics, energy, information storage, and medicine. Materials constructed from biological building blocks are attractive because they can integrate the advantages of biomolecular systems such as adaptability in response to external stimuli, capacity to dynamically interact with other materials, and ability to self-heal after chemical or mechanical degradation. DNA self-assembly provides a promising approach for creating such nano-architected materials due to its ability to produce precise nanostructures of unprecedented geometric complexity, tunable mechanical properties, and dynamic reconfiguration. This Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) award supports fundamental research focused on developing self-assembled materials constructed from DNA with adaptable structures and unique mechanical properties, signal processing capabilities, and the ability to form a variety of materials from a single reconfigurable building block. The research is closely aligned with the Materials Genome Initiative, which seeks to accelerate materials discovery and deployment through integration of computational, experimental, and data-driven advances. In addition, the award will provide unique training for graduate and undergraduate students in DNA nanotechnology, biochemistry, molecular simulations, machine learning, and multi-scale modeling. All training opportunities will be leveraged to benefit students from underrepresented groups. Additionally, the results of the project will be disseminated through workshops that will engage broader research communities. This research project will advance the functional properties of architected DNA materials by integrating unique mechanical, signal-transducing, and shape-morphing properties. These materials will be constructed from nanoscale DNA building blocks with precisely designed structure and tailored mechanical and dynamic properties. These units will be assembled into larger materials consisting of many devices that interact with each other to coordinate the structure and mechanical response of the materials and achieve functions like transducing signals. Design principles will be established for these materials using molecular simulation and machine learning approaches to rapidly identify nanodevice and assembly designs for on-demand material properties. The team has a highly collaborative approach that combines expertise in DNA nanomaterials, single-molecule measurements, molecular and mesoscopic modeling, and machine learning. Using these capabilities, the team will focus on three goals: design, construct and implement (i) mechanical metamaterials self-assembled from compliant DNA origami nanostructures, (ii) signal transducing materials based on dynamic DNA devices, and (iii) polymorphic networks from assembly of reconfigurable multi-arm DNA origami nanodevices. This project is supported by the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) of the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) and the Division of Materials Research (DMR) of the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.