(521e) Dual-Layer Material Deposition on Tobacco Mosaic Virus

The ability to layer coatings onto a nanotemplate provides a useful means of producing nanomaterials with novel properties, such as altered conductivity or surface chemistry. Biological templates offer uniformity and known structures to the technique of template synthesis. Previously we described a robust method for coating Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) with silica using a base-catalyzed reaction of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) in methanol (E. Royston, S.Y. Lee, J.N. Culver, M.T. Harris, J. Colloid Interface Sci., In Press). In this study we demonstrate the effectiveness of using silica-coated TMV as a template for the layering of additional metals. Deprotonated hydroxyl groups on the silica surface provide numerous reactive sites for metal deposition. Using reducing agents combined with the reactive silica surface, coverage of Pt or Pd metal clusters under 5nm in diameter can be achieved on the silica-coated TMV template. Samples are verified with electron microscopy, elemental analysis, and x-ray scattering.