Development of peptide-based methods for controlling the structures, compositions, and properties of complex nanoparticle superstructures

This dissertation describes the development of a nanoparticle assembly methodology based on the use of peptide conjugate molecules. The aim of this research was to explore how this methodology could be used to control the structure, metrics, and properties of product nanoparticle superstructures.;Specifically, this document describes mechanistic studies aimed at understanding the key factors that govern the nanoparticle synthesis and assembly process. Using what we learned from these studies, we prepared high-quality helical nanoparticle superstructures and studied their chirooptical properties. We coupled theory and experiment to show how tuning the metrics and structure of the helices results in predictable and tailorable circular dichroism (CD) properties. We also describe how the composition of the peptide conjugate can influence both the structure of the nanoparticle assembly and detail how peptide conjugates can be utilized to prepare 'hollow' sub-100nm gold nanoparticle spheres. Finally, to expand the composition scope of the methodology, we present a new cobalt-binding peptide conjugate, which could be used to direct the synthesis and assembly of hollow CoPt nanospherical superstructures exhibiting electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation.