Peptide-mediated shape- and size-tunable synthesis of gold nanostructures

While several biological processes have been shown to be useful for the production of well-designed, inorganic nanostructures, the mechanism(s) controlling the size and shape of nano and micron size particles remains elusive. Here we report on the controlled size- and shape-specific production of gold nanostructures under ambient reaction conditions using a dodecapeptide, Midas-2, originally selected from a phage-displayed combinatorial peptide library. Single amino acid changes in Midas-2 greatly influence the size (a few nanometers to ∼100 μm) and shape (nanoparticles, nanoribbons, nanowires and nanoplatelets) of the gold nanostructures produced, and these are controllable by adjusting the solution pH and gold ion concentration. The ability to control the shape and size of the gold nanostructures by changing the peptide structure and reaction conditions will lead to many potential applications, including nanoelectronics, sensors and optoelectronics, because of their unique size- and shape-dependent optical and electrical properties.