Platform for the assembly of 3D hierarchically-organized nanomaterials

This technology is a platform to organize nanoscale objects into a 3D array using DNA programmable interactions, that can be used to generate 3D hierarchically ordered materials for optical and energy applications.

Unmet Need: Self-assembly of designed 3D nanoarchitecture

Advancements in lithographic and additive manufacture methods have supported tremendous progress in the field of small-scale manufacturing over the past few decades. However, current methods to generate specifically designed 3D nanomaterials on demand, with prescribed diverse structures and composition, are limited by a reliance on the composition and interaction of particles within these architectures and with the underlying organization.

The Technology: Platform for organized self-assembly of nanoparticles to form 3D nanomaterials

This technology describes a technique for organizing nanoscale objects into a 3D array using repeating mesoscale motifs and their elemental blocks—nanoscale voxels (defined units of 3D space that can be empty or occupied) with DNA-encoded directional bonds that can carry encoded nano-cargo, to target specific molecules to use during self-assembly. The technology permits the production of complex, hierarchical, and diverse 3D architectures while reducing the amount of information required to encode such complex structures. This technology provides a bottom-up method for fabricating 3D architectures from a variety of nanocomponents by design, for use in a variety of nanomaterial applications. This technology has been validated with x-ray scattering and electron microscopy approaches.

Applications:

  • Platform for assembly and organization of 3D nanomaterials
  • Production of optical and energy materials
  • Production of information processing nanomaterials
  • DNA self-assembly for material physics, medicine, and biogenetics
  • Research tool for studying properties of 3D nanomaterials

Advantages:

  • Platform for production of self-assembling 3D lattices
  • Production of nanoscale objects using diverse types of nanocomponents
  • Ability to customize properties of 3D nanomaterials via bottom-up approach

Lead Inventor:

Oleg Gang, Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Pending

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