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Selective Electroless Deposition of Metal Clusters on Solid‐Supported Bacteriorhodopsin: Applications to Orientation Labeling and Electrical Contacts
Author(s) -
Ron Izhar,
Friedman Noga,
Cahen David,
Sheves Mordechai
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.200800524
Subject(s) - materials science , electroless deposition , bacteriorhodopsin , nanotechnology , orientation (vector space) , metal , deposition (geology) , electrical contacts , optoelectronics , metallurgy , chemistry , membrane , biochemistry , paleontology , geometry , mathematics , sediment , biology
Controlling the orientation of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) monolayers is an important step in studying and utilizing such membranes in a solid‐state configuration in, for example, photoelectric applications. Macroscopic monolayers of bR have been fabricated in a variety of ways, but characterization of the distribution of the two possible orientations in which the membrane fragments can adsorb has not yet been addressed experimentally. Here, an approach is presented that labels only one of the membrane surfaces by electroless growth of metal nanoparticles on top of the solid‐supported membranes. In this way, it is possible to observe which surface of the membranes is actually adsorbed to the substrate. How this technique serves to interface the membranes with a top metal contact for further electrical measurements is also demonstrated.