Peptide-directed co-assembly of nanoprobes on multimaterial patterned solid surfaces

Biocombinatorially selected solid-binding peptides, through their unique material affinity and selectivity, are a promising platform for building up complex hierarchical assemblies of nanoscale materials and molecular probes, targeted to specific practical solid surfaces. Here, we demonstrate the material-specific characteristics of engineered gold-binding and silica-binding peptides through co-assembly onto micro- and nano-patterned gold surfaces on silica substrates. To build hierarchical nanostructures on patterned solid surfaces, we utilize peptides as molecular tools and monitor their behavior by either conjugating biotin to them for specific affinity to streptavidin-coated QDot nanoparticles or labelling them with small fluorescent labels. This biomimetic peptide-based approach could be used as an alternative to conventional chemical coupling and surface functionalization techniques with substantial advantages, allowing simultaneous assembly of two or more inorganic nano-entities and/or molecular probes onto patterned inorganic solid substrates. The results have significant implications in a wide range of potential applications, including controlled assembly of hybrid nanostructures in bionanophotonic and biosensing devices.