Synthesis and Self-assembly of Complex Inorganic-based Nanostructures

Stephen Mann School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK e-mail: S.Mann@bristol.ac.uk URL: http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/inorg/mann/webpage.htm

Organized-matter chemistry is concerned with the synthesis, characterization and application of complex materials that exhibit order on length scales from the molecular to macroscopic. Recently, new strategies have been developed for the synthesis of organized inorganic nanostructures based on biomolecular templates, facilitated self-assembly of nanoparticle building blocks, and mesoscale transformations in complex fluids. A key aspect of this approach is the integration of organic self-organization and inorganic assembly such that hybrid nanomaterials are constructed by direct or synergistic templating. This principle will be illustrated using several examples of our most recent work including the synthesis and assembly of mesostructured silica in lipid helicoids, metallic nanowires in tobacco mosaic virus particles, DNA-driven self assembly of gold nanorods, and the synthesis of linear chains of nanoparticles and nanofilament arrays in water-in-oil microemulsions.