Metallization and investigation of electrical properties of invitro recrystallized mSbsC-eGFP assemblies

Abstract

Surface layer (SL) proteins are self-assembling nanosized arrays which can be recrystallized in solution or on surfaces. In this paper, we investigate the metallization, contact potential difference and conductivity of invitro recrystallized mSbsC-eGFP tube-like assemblies for possible applications in nanobiotechnology. Treatment of mSbsC-eGFP tube-like structures with 150mM Pt salt solution resulted in the formation of metallized SL assemblies decorated with Pt nanoparticles ( > 3nm) which were closely packed and aggregated into metal clusters. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) measurements revealed that metallized and unmetallized SL templates showed different surface potential behaviours, demonstrating that the metal coating changes the electrostatic surface characteristics of SL assemblies. Insitu conductivity measurements showed that unmetallized SL assemblies were not conductive. Metallized samples showed linear I-V dependence between - 1 and + 1V with a conductivity of ∼ 103Sm- 1. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd.