Tuning DNA-amphiphile condensate architecture with strongly binding counterions.

ABSTRACT: Electrostatic self-assembly of colloidal and nanoparticles has attracted a lot of attention in recent years, since it offers the possibility of producing novel crystalline structures that have the potential to be used as advanced materials for photonic and other applications. The stoichiometry of these crystals is not constrained by charge neutrality of the two types of particles due to the presence of counterions, and hence a variety of three-dimensional structures have been observed depending on the relative sizes of the particles and their charge. Here we report structural polymorphism of two-dimensional crystals of oppositely charged linear macroions, namely DNA and self-assembled cylindrical micelles of cationic amphiphiles. Our system differs from those studied earlier in terms of th

SUBMITTER: Radhakrishnan AV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3340025 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature