Fabricating and Aligning pi-Conjugated Polymer-Functionalized DNA Nanowires:Atomic Force Microscopic and Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopic Studies

摘要

We report a simple method to functionalize DNA with pi-conjugated polymer,forming highly aligned and integrated arrays of pi-conjugated polymer nanowires of a few nanometers diameter,pi-conjugated polymer,polyphenazasiline,having alkylammonium salts on the N atom (PPhenaz-TMA),synthesized in this study can be directly attached to DNA,which can be organized along stretched and aligned DNA molecules on surfaces as a template.Furthermore,PPhenaz-TMA/DNA nanowires were stretched and aligned on surfaces,even when PPhenaz-TMA/DNA complexes formed in solutions.The resulting PPhenaz-TMA/DNA nanowires could be easily converted to oxidized states or metallic nanowires by using adequate oxidant or metal salts.The direct visualization of PPhenaz-TMA/DNA nanowires and its structural changes have been studied by atomic force microscopy and scanning near-field optical microscopy.