Defect-Tolerant Single-Electron Charging at Room Temperature in Metal Nanoparticle Decorated Biopolymers

Gold nanoparticles assembled on a biopolymer template (see Figure) between metal electrodes on an insulating substrate are shown to exhibit unambiguous single electron charging effects that are found to depend on the nanoparticle properties and the geometrical contraints imposed by the biopolymer. The results support the idea of using nanoparticles in conjuction with biomolecular organization to produce nanoscale systems with defect-tolerant current–voltage behavior.