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.