Highly structured optical materials based on protein containers and plasmonic nanoparticles for the manipulation of light at the nanoscale
Physical Chemistry of Solids and Surfaces, Material Characterisation
Final Report Abstract
Protein containers have gained interest as building blocks for the assembly of novel biohybrid materials. The cargo loading as well as the assembly of the protein containers can be altered, resulting in various materials with novel properties. Highly ordered nanoparticle materials can be readily synthesized using protein containers, overcoming major challenges in nanoparticle assemblies. Within this project, crystallization conditions for supercharged protein containers were screened and optimized. Depending on the protein variant and crystallization condition, different assemblies were found and discussed within this project. Protein containers of different sizes were assembled into novel hetero binary structures. Both containers were loaded with nanoparticles, resulting in densely packed nanoparticle superlattices. The structure of the nanoparticle superlattices was studies with X-ray diffraction. In addition, highly efficient fluorophore labeling of protein containers was achieved. Fluorescent protein containers were used as a novel building block for the assembly of fluorescent protein crystals. In the end, interactions between gold nanoparticles and fluorophores in the solid state were investigated with confocal microscopy.
Publications
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Encapsulation of Gold Nanoparticles into Redesigned Ferritin Nanocages for the Assembly of Binary Superlattices Composed of Fluorophores and Gold Nanoparticles. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 14(8), 10656-10668.
Lach, Marcel; Strelow, Christian; Meyer, Andreas; Mews, Alf & Beck, Tobias
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Crystalline Biohybrid Materials Based on Protein Cages. Methods in Molecular Biology, 361-386. Springer US.
Böhler, Hendrik; Rütten, Michael; Lang, Laurin & Beck, Tobias
