la3015404_si_001.pdf (5.2 MB)
Isolation of Template Effects That Control the Structure and Function of Nonspherical, Biotemplated Pd Nanomaterials
journal contribution
posted on 2012-05-29, 00:00 authored by Rohit Bhandari, Marc R. KnechtAdvances in nanotechnology have indicated that the passivant
and
the inorganic surface play a pivotal role in controlling the structure/function
relationship of materials. Beyond standard materials-based methods,
bioligands have recently demonstrated the production of unique nanomaterial
morphologies for application under ambient conditions for multiple
activities, such as catalysis and biosensing. We have recently demonstrated
that a biotemplate technique could be employed to produce spherical
and linear Pd nanostructures in water using a self-assembling peptide
framework. The materials possessed high catalytic reactivity that
was controlled by the three-dimensional structure of the composite
materials. To investigate the effect of the peptide template on the
reactivity of Pd nanostructures, an in depth analysis of the catalytic
activity of Pd nanostructures fabricated via truncated templates is
presented. The new templates were designed from portions of the original
framework, which demonstrated unique synthetic and functionality control.
Two different reactions, Stille C–C coupling and 4-nitrophenol
reduction, were employed to ascertain the effect of template structure
on the reactivity of synthesized Pd nanomaterials via changes in reagent
diffusion through the bioscaffold. The results indicate that the peptide
framework plays an important role and could be used to tune and optimize
the functionality of the final composite materials for the target
application.