Synthesis, manipulation and conductivity of supramolecular polymer nanowires |
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Authors: | Dong Liqin Hollis Tom Fishwick Steven Connolly Bernard A Wright Nicholas G Horrocks Benjamin R Houlton Andrew |
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Institution: | Chemical Nanoscience Laboratories, School of Natural Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK. |
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Abstract: | The synthesis of supramolecular conducting nanowires can be achieved by using DNA and pyrrole. Oxidation of pyrrole in DNA-containing solutions yields a material that contains both the cationic polypyrrole (PPy) and the anionic DNA polymers. Intimate interaction of the two polymer chains in the self-assembled nanowires is indicated by FTIR spectroscopy. AFM imaging shows individual nanowires to be continuous, approximately 5 nm high and conformationally flexible. This feature allows them to be aligned by molecular combing in a similar manner to bare DNA and provides a convenient method for fabricating a simple electrical device by stretching DNA/PPy strands across an electrode gap. Current-voltage measurements confirm that the nanowires are conducting, with values typical for a polypyrrole-based material. In contrast to polymerisation of pyrrole on a DNA template in bulk solution, attempts to form similar wires by polymerisation at surface-immobilised DNA do not give a continuous coverage; instead, a beads-on-a-string appearance is observed suggesting that immobilisation inhibits the assembly process. |
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Keywords: | conducting materials DNA nanowires polymers self‐assembly |
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