•Functional Materials for Data
Storage, Sensing, and Diagnostics DPN-derived templates were used for the assembly of inorganic colloidal structures. It was found that both magnetic and dielectric colloids could be directly assembled or patterned onto the templates. It was found that sol-gels could be used as inks and patterned onto noble-metal and oxide substrates and that through the choice of sol-gel precursors, tailored ceramic materials could be formed. The sol-gel-precursor approach is expected to open new avenues for fabricating nanostructures capable of functioning as sensory, data-storage, and mag - neto/electronic devices. Other accomplishments of this sub-project include development of techniques for fabrication of nanoelectrodes, biosensory devices, and electrically conductive polymer nanostructures; development of a method of multiplexed localized patterning of polymers; and fabrication and determination of electrical properties of gold nanoparticles coated with organic material.

•Computational Modeling of Self- Assembly
Computational models of physical and chemical phenomena involved in self-assembly of nanostructures were developed. The models were utilized in computational-simulation studies in which significant progress was made towards understanding, on a theoretical and experimental level, how two types of model molecules — alkyl thiols and peptide amphiphiles — assemble themselves on surfaces. Effects of environmental factors on the shapes and properties of structures formed by such selfassembly were analyzed.

This work was done by Chad A. Mirkin, Vinayak Dravid, Mark Ratner, George Schatz, Sam Stupp, David Kaplan, Reza Ghadiri, and David Ginger of Northwestern University for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

This Brief includes a Technical Support Package (TSP).

Progress in Design and Synthesis of Nanostructured Materials (reference AFRL-0089) is currently available for download from the TSP library.

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