Self-Assembled DNA-Inorganic Nanoparticle Structures - DNA Nanotechnology: From Structure to Function - page 196

9.5 Summary and Perspective

DNA has been demonstrated to be an ideal template for directing self-assembly of
nanobuilding blocks into a wide range of nanoarchitectures including 1-D linear
arrangements, 2-D nanoarrays, 3-D discrete nanoassemblies, and 3-D crystalline
superlattice. The DNA-based strategy for assembly of nanoparticles has exploited
various nanomaterial involving noble metal NPs, quantum dots, and carbon nan-
otubes. To date, spherical NPs are most widely used as building blocks in DNA-
directed nanostructures; anisotropic NPs have been rarely utilized arising from the
difficulties in site and stoichiometric control over the surface functionalization.
More advanced methods of surface modification must be developed to fully exploit
the vast library of available nanobuilding blocks.
Rational-designed nanomaterials assembled by DNA have attracted increasing
attention owing to the function as robust platforms for the experimental research on
fundamental structure-property relationship. Particularly, DNA-guided gold nanos-
tructures have boosted the fast development of plasmonics, an interdisciplinary
field in which researchers are interested in unique plasmon resonance coupling
within noble metal nanostructures. Meanwhile, extensive knowledge of the optical
property of these DNA-directed plasmonic nanostructures has been applied in a
wide range of applications such as sensing, waveguiding, and energy harvesting.
Thus, high-yielded fabrication and deep research in the property of more complexed
nanoarchitectures by using DNA template are of great significance from both
fundamental and technological research points.
The interfacing of DNA-NP structures with solid state devices is another
challenge. Typical DNA-assembled nanostructures are prepared and stabilized in
aqueous buffer solution, which casts a limitation in combination with solid surface
due to the easy deformation of DNA scaffolds suffering from the dryness. In
addition, precise control over the localized position and orientation also plays
an important role in combining the bottom-up DNA-guided self-assembly of
nanoarchitectures with top-down lithography, a challenge towards the application
of DNA nanotechnology in solid state devices.

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