DNA-Templated Rational Assembly of BaWO₄ Nano Pair-Linear Arrays

Confining the growth of inorganic materials in patterns using DNA as a molecular guide represents a versatile system for nanoscale construction. Here, we report the first example of efficiently attaching BaWO 4 nanocrystals to dsDNA skeleton forming in patterns of well-defined nano pair-linear arrays. We have studied the influences of solution temperatures and concentrations of reagents on the pair-linear morphology. Results indicate that the two factors play the important roles in synthesizing the stable and desired patterned pair-linear arrays. We have tested four kinds of oligonucleotides to investigate systematically how nucleotide functionalities influence nanoparticle growth. We find that the phosphate and possibly the amino moiety binding site on adenine are the favorable targets to feed nanoparticle growth. On the basis of our findings, possible mechanisms are discussed.