Top-down synthesis of polyaspartamide morphogens to derive platinum nanoclusters

• Platinum nanoparticles with tunable size and spatial organization are prepared.
• Poly(amino acid)s' derivatives are functionalized by a top-down synthesis from PSI.
• Polyaspartamides tuned the size of particles and created giant clusters.

Metallic nanoparticles are widely used in various applications, and their successful uses depend on the size and stability. In this study, we present a method to synthesize platinum nanoparticle clusters with tunable size and spatial organization. These nanoparticle clusters were synthesized by conducting sol-gel polymerization of platinum precursors in aqueous solution of poly(amino acid)s' derivative substituted with both particle precursor-binding amine groups and particle-binding thiol groups. Control experiments displayed that poly(amino acid)s' derivative tuned the morphology of nanoparticles and also induced organized association between the particles. Therefore, this study serves to provide novel method to synthesize a wide array of nanoparticles and clusters along with novel polymers to tune morphology and organization of the nanoparticles.

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