Flagella - Templates for the Synthesis of Metallic Nanowires

Deutscher L, Renner LD, Cuniberti G (2014)

Publication Type: Conference contribution

Publication year: 2014

Journal

4th European Conference of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering Springer Science Business Media

Publisher: Springer Verlag

Book Volume: 41

Pages Range: 860-863

Conference Proceedings Title: IFMBE Proceedings

Event location: ESP

ISBN: 9783319008455

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-00846-2_213

Abstract

The classical approach to synthesize nanowires is based on deposition of conductive metal ions. In this report we present the modification of bacterial appendages in order to form nanowires from renewable biological structures, bacterial flagella. Flagella have many advantageous characteristics of proteinaceous constructs: they possess the ability to self-assemble, to extend over several micrometers in length and possess diameters of 10-20 nm making them ideal candidates for nanowires. We show the isolation of micrometer-sized flagella from three different bacterial strains: Pseudomonas fluorescens, Lysinibacillus sphaericus and Shewanella oneidensis. The dimensions and characteristics of the isolated flagella were investigated by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The bacterial appendages had an average length of approximately 3.7 μm and an average diameter of 10.6 nm. In order to achieve conductive nanowires we applied a methodology to metallize purified flagella. Our results show the applicability of bacterial flagella as scaffolds for nanowire synthesis. We envision that our approach will enable the application of bacterial nanowires to a wide range of biomolecular sensors. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.

Involved external institutions

Technische Universität Dresden DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Deutscher, L., Renner, L.D., & Cuniberti, G. (2014). Flagella - Templates for the Synthesis of Metallic Nanowires. In IFMBE Proceedings (pp. 860-863). ESP: Springer Verlag.

MLA:

Deutscher, Linda, L. D. Renner, and Gianaurelio (Giovanni) Cuniberti. "Flagella - Templates for the Synthesis of Metallic Nanowires." Proceedings of the 13th Mediterranean Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing 2013, MEDICON 2013, ESP Springer Verlag, 2014. 860-863.

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