Biomimetic synthesis and patterning of silver nanoparticles

Abstract

The creation of nanoscale materials for advanced structures has led to a growing interest in the area of biomineralization. Numerous microorganisms are capable of synthesizing inorganic-based structures^1,2. For example, diatoms use amorphous silica as a structural material³, bacteria synthesize magnetite (Fe₃O₄) particles and form silver nanoparticles⁴, and yeast cells synthesize cadmium sulphide nanoparticles⁵. The process of biomineralization and assembly of nanostructured inorganic components into hierarchical structures has led to the development of a variety of approaches that mimic the recognition and nucleation capabilities found in biomolecules for inorganic material synthesis^6,7,8,9,10. In this report, we describe the in vitro biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using silver-binding peptides identified from a combinatorial phage display peptide library.