Bionanosphere Lithography via Hierarchical Peptide Self-Assembly of Aromatic Triphenylalanine

• Published in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Germany), 2010-04, Vol.6 (8), p.945-951
• Main Authors: Han, Tae Hee, Ok, Taedong, Kim, Jangbae, Shin, Dong Ok, Ihee, Hyotcherl, Lee, Hee-Seung, Kim, Sang Ouk
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; bionanospheres; nanolithography; Nanospheres - chemistry; Nanospheres - ultrastructure; Nanotechnology - methods; Particle Size; peptides; Peptides - chemical synthesis; Peptides - chemistry; Phenylalanine - analogs & derivatives; Phenylalanine - chemical synthesis; Phenylalanine - chemistry; self-assembly; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; Thermogravimetry; X-Ray Diffraction
• ISSN: 1613-6810; 1613-6829
• DOI: 10.1002/smll.200902050

A nanolithographic approach based on hierarchical peptide self‐assembly is presented. An aromatic peptide of N‐(t‐Boc)‐terminated triphenylalanine is designed from a structural motif for the β‐amyloid associated with Alzheimer's disease. This peptide adopts a turnlike conformation with three phenyl rings oriented outward, which mediate intermolecular π–π stacking interactions and eventually facilitate highly crystalline bionanosphere assembly with both thermal and chemical stability. The self‐assembled bionanospheres spontaneously pack into a hexagonal monolayer at the evaporating solvent edge, constituting evaporation‐induced hierarchical self‐assembly. Metal nanoparticle arrays or embossed Si nanoposts could be successfully created from the hexagonal bionanosphere array masks in conjunction with a conventional metal‐evaporation or etching process. Our approach represents a bionanofabrication concept that biomolecular self‐assembly is hierarchically directed to establish a straightforward nanolithography compatible with conventional device‐fabrication processes. A bionanosphere lithography method based on hierarchical peptide self‐assembly is presented. The N‐(t‐Boc)‐terminated triphenylalanine is designed for spherical nanoassembly. This peptide hierarchically assembles into a hexagonal monolayer of bionanospheres upon solvent evaporation. Highly crystalline, thermally stable triphenylalanine assembly is successfully employed as lithographic mask for metal or silicon nanopatterning.