(651b) Surface Mineralization and Characterization of Palladium Nanoparticles On Genetically Engineered Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) Templates

Certain innate properties of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)
make it ideal as a biotemplate for nanoparticle formation.  Genetic modifications of the TMV coat proteins allow for an
increase in the selective deposition and controlled growth of different metals
onto the surface of the virus.  In
the current process, TMV is coated with uniform layers of palladium metal
particles in aqueous solution under very mild conditions.  Palladium nanowires
of 300nm in length and 30-40nm in diameter have been created with this
process.  Tunneling electron
microscopy (TEM) and small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) are used to charaterize the thickness and uniformity of the metal
surface.  Procedures to control the
higher order assembly of the TMV help to limit the uncontrolled aggregation of
individual nanorods and arrange the TMV into
nanostructures to be used in multiple applications ranging from catalysts to
sensors to battery electrodes and other devices in nanoelectronics.  This presentation will focus on the aqueous
coating procedure and the characterization of the resulting nanowires
with TEM and SAXS.