Developing Nanoscale Materials Using Biomimetic Assembly Processes
- PDF / 3,323,288 Bytes
- 8 Pages / 612 x 792 pts (letter) Page_size
- 105 Downloads / 208 Views
A1.1.1
Developing Nanoscale Materials Using Biomimetic Assembly Processes George D. Bachand1, Susan B. Rivera1, Andrew K. Boal1, Joseph M. Bauer2, Steven J. Koch1, Ronald P. Manginell2, Jun Liu3, and Bruce C. Bunker1 1
Biomolecular Materials and Interfaces, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA Micro-Total-Analytical Systems, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA 3 Chemical Synthesis and Nanomaterials, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA
2
ABSTRACT The formation and nature of living materials are fundamentally different from those of synthetic materials. Synthetic materials generally have static structures, and are not capable of adapting to changing environmental conditions or stimuli. In contrast, living systems utilize energy to assemble, reconfigure, and dismantle materials in a dynamic, highly non-equilibrium fashion. The overall goal of this work is to identify and explore key strategies used by living systems to develop new types of materials in which the assembly, configuration, and disassembly can be programmed or “self-regulated” in microfluidic environments. As a model system, kinesin motor proteins and microtubule fibers have been selected as a means of directing the transport of molecular cargo, and assembly of nanostructures at synthetic interfaces. Initial work has focused on characterizing and engineering the properties of these active biomolecules for robust performance in microfluidic systems. We also have developed several strategies for functionalizing microtubule fibers with metal and semiconductor nanoparticles, and demonstrated the assembly of composite nanoscale materials. Moreover, transport of these composite assemblies has been demonstrated using energy-driven actuation by kinesin motor proteins. Current work is focused on developing mechanisms for directing the linear transport of microtubule fibers, and controlling the loading/unloading of nanoparticle cargo in microfluidic systems. INTRODUCTION The assembly, configuration, and disassembly of biological materials are regulated through dynamic, non-equilibrium processes that occur at the nano- and molecular scale. A unique feature in these processes centers on the directed transport of nanoscale materials through the consumption of chemical energy. Living systems utilize complex networks of cytoskeletal fibers (e.g., microtubule fibers) and biomolecular motors (e.g., kinesin) to direct the active transport of materials within cells at rates much greater than diffusion. For example, active transport is used to assemble materials ranging from the complex silica shell of a diatom [1], to the responsive melanophore arrays used by fish to change color [2]. Our overall goal is to understand and exploit such transport mechanisms for developing new nanoscale materials that incorporate biomimetic assembly and organization processes. Perhaps the most significant challenge associated with integrating biological active transport systems into synthetic architectures involves the ability to interface biologi
Data Loading...
