Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Ligand-protected metal nanoclusters hold promise as atomically precise building blocks for nanoscale materials. However, it remains challenging to achieve ligand chemistries that control higher-order organization while still retaining the nanocluster’s atom-precise properties. Here, we present two biomolecular approaches for higher-order organization of silver nanoclusters stabilized by DNA (DNA-Ag N ). First, using strategies from DNA nanotechnology, we develop complementary DNA-Ag N that oligomerize upon toehold-mediated strand displacement reactions. Second, we exploit biotin-streptavidin interactions to oligomerize biotinylated DNA-Ag N . Higherorder assembly is confirmed by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and cryo-electron microscopy. Optical spectroscopy shows that the nanoclusters retain their optical properties upon assembly, supporting the integrity of their atomically precise structures during biomolecular organization. These results demonstrate the utility of programmable biomolecular interactions for the higher-order assembly of atom-precise inorganic nanoclusters.
Source: ChemRxiv
Institution: University of California System
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7223084035