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Crystallization of Amphiphilic DNA C-Stars

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Article

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Authors

Brady, RA 
Brooks, NJ 
Di Michele, Lorenzo  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1458-9747

Abstract

Many emerging technologies require materials with well-defined three-dimensional nanoscale architectures. Production of these structures is currently underpinned by self-assembling amphiphilic macromolecules or engineered all-DNA building blocks. Both of these approaches produce restricted ranges of crystal geometries due to synthetic amphiphiles' simple shape and limited specificity, or the technical difficulties in designing space-filling DNA motifs with targeted shapes. We have overcome these limitations with amphiphilic DNA nanostructures, or "C-Stars", that combine the design freedom and facile functionalization of DNA-based materials with robust hydrophobic interactions. C-Stars self-assemble into single crystals exceeding 40 μm in size with lattice parameters exceeding 20 nm.

Description

Keywords

DNA crystallization, hydrophobic interactions, amphiphilic molecules, self-assembly, single crystals, DNA nanotechnology

Journal Title

Nano Letters

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1530-6984
1530-6992

Volume Title

17

Publisher

American Chemical Society
Sponsorship
EPSRC (1494571)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L015978/1)
L.D.M., P.C., and N.J.B. acknowledge support from the EPSRC Programme Grant CAPITALS number EP/J017566/1. L.D.M. acknowledges support from the Oppenheimer Fund, Emmanuel College Cambridge, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Isaac Newton Trust through an Early Career Fellowship (ECF-2015- 494). R.A.B. acknowledges support from the EPSRC CDT in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NanoDTC), grant number EP/L015978/1. We acknowledge Diamond Light Source for provision of synchrotron beamtime (SM14217, SM15530, and SM15030), and we would like to thank Andy Smith for assistance in operating beamline I22.
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