The building blocks of life are proteins. These incredible nanostructures are responsible for forming the diverse infrastructure of living systems and for performing countless biological functions. In Nature, these materials and systems achieve structural complexity and function through highly regulated and controlled assembly of protein building blocks, driven by specific...
The idea that structure determines the properties of a material is a powerful concept in chemistry and in all fields in which chemistry is important, including engineering, medicine, and materials science. My research aims to better understand the structure-property relationships of a class of materials known as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)....
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) display unique characteristics compared to their macro-counterparts that are dependent on shape, size, and attached surface molecules. Methods have been developed to precisely control both size and shape of AuNPs for specific applications. The biocompatibility, plasmonic properties, and ease of functionalization with thiolated molecules, make gold nanoparticles...
Spherical Nucleic Acids (SNAs) are unique class of nanomaterial characterized by a dense nucleic acid shell conjugated to a nanoparticle core. This radial orientation of oligonucleotides and architecture distinguishes SNAs from the components from which they are comprised. Specifically, unique chemical and biological properties emerge that are not observed with...
When attached to another species (e.g. a nanoparticle), the sequence specificity of DNA can be repurposed to program interactions between such entities and to direct their formation into ordered structures. The research presented in this thesis aims to push the boundaries of structures that can be made via this approach....