Progress in Design and Synthesis of Nanostructured Materials

A five-and-a-half-year integrated multidisciplinary research project has been characterized by three themes pertinent to the development of advanced materials having tailorable microstructures and/or nanostructures. These themes are (1) biocompatible nanolithographic methods of patterning and templating of materials to have two- and three-dimensional nanostructures; (2) nucleic-acid-based approaches to preparing (both in solution and from predesigned, nanostructured surface templates) supramolecular structures tailored to perform specific functions; and (3) protein-based or inspired molecular and supramolecular architectures. The contributions of this and other related research projects can be expected to lead to the development of diverse nanostructured organic and inorganic materials and structures, including catalytic peptide tubes, hostguest materials for molecular separations, quantum-dot and magnetic-particle arrays, bio-nanoelectronic circuitry, photonicbandgap and three-dimensional electronic power structures, and novel biowarfare- detection materials.