Simple method for coating Si (1 0 0) surfaces with ferritin monolayers—Iron oxide quantum dots

With the goal to develop iron oxide quantum dots we developed a simple method to spread horse spleen ferritin monolayers on a Si (1 0 0) surface. Application of atomic force microscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry showed the existence of regions with dense ferritin monolayers. Application of transmission electron microscopy identified the core of the spread ferritin as FeO nanocrystals.