DNA-triggered asymmetric ZnO nanoparticles

• ZnO nanoparticles are obtained by using a DNA-templated synthesis.
• The Zn2+ ion/DNA base pairs ratio has been used to tune the particles size and morphology.
• DLS and SEM characterization highlights the formation of ZnO nanorods.

DNA/ZnO nanoparticles were obtained by using a biopolymer-assisted chemical bath growth process. A dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique was used to investigate the size and the growth kinetics of the nanoparticles and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize their morphology. The obtained nanoparticles were larger than the original DNA molecules indicating that DNA acted as a template for the growth of asymmetric DNA/ZnO nanoparticles. The growth kinetics and the particle size were tuned with the solution temperature and composition. Thus, the DNA characteristics can be used to build up different supra-molecular objects by covering with nano ZnO the different polynucleotide structures present in solution. The implications of this process have several positive benefits for building nano-scale device.

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