Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
197,761 studies31 sourcesUpdated 37 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NCScience Advances

Topology-enforced synthesis of atomically precise silver nanoclusters in 3D DNA lattices

  • Lara Perren1,2
  • William Livernois3
  • Karol Woloszyn2
  • Jordan Janowski2
  • Vidya R. Singh2
  • Laibah Faiaz2
  • Mara Jaffe2
  • Melkior Colabella2
  • Trent A. McHenry2
  • Claudia E. Avalos2
  • Chengde Mao4
  • James W. Canary2
4 more authors
  • Yoel P. Ohayon2
  • Ruojie Sha2
  • M. P. Anantram3
  • Simon Vecchioni2,5
5 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, CH-8093, Switzerland
  2. 2Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY, USA
  3. 3Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
  4. 4Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
  5. 5Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, England, UK
Open at sourceDOICite

Abstract

DNA nanotechnology leverages the molecular design resolution of the DNA double helix to fold and tile matter into designer architectures. Recent advances in bioinorganic chemistry have exploited DNA/Ag + affinity to carry out the templated reduction of silver nanoclusters. Here, we develop a unified method that leverages the topology of DNA triangles with embedded silver base pairs to nucleate controlled cluster growth in a mesoporous 3D lattice. Use of confocal fluorescence microscopy allows for the direct observation of reaction kinetics and reconstruction of the optical bandgap. These crystals yield molecular structures of Ag 4 and Ag 6 by x-ray diffraction in varying pyrimidine:pyrimidine pairs. Intercluster distances of less than 2 nanometers show observable electronic coupling, with red shifting observed relative to literature standards. A thorough computational investigation establishes a theoretical basis for our observed behavior and establishes the interplay between cluster size, charge, geometry, and resonance. We anticipate that these results will yield advances in materials synthesis, DNA-based plasmonic crystals, and optically active nanoelectronics.

Versions

Related

  1. Synthesis of Atomically Precise Pt1Ag34 Bimetallic Nanoclusters and Their Catalytic Performance in the Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate
    Manman Zhou, Nengmei Deng, Jun Zhao +1
    ACS OmegaPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textMaterials & polymersCrossrefDOAJ
  2. Symmetry Breaking Drives Twisted Prismatic Evolution in Atomically Precise Copper Nanoclusters
    Glory James, Dipanjana Mondal, Nisha Job +7
    ChemRxivPreprintLicence not statedGeneral chemistryChemRxiv
  3. Programmable Assembly of DNA Tetrahedra Bearing Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters: Stoichiometric Control and Molecular-Level Characterization
    Mathilde Manceau, Abdallah Alhalabi, Christine Saint-Pierre +3
    HALPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textSystems & synthetic biologyGeneral chemistryHAL
  4. Atomically Precise Metal Nanoclusters: Advancing Electrocatalytic Nitrate-to-Ammonia Conversion
    Sourav Mandal, Tokuhisa Kawawaki, Sourav Biswas +1
    JACS AuPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textCatalysisCrossref
  5. Europium Doped Atomically Precise Bismuth Oxido Nanoclusters as Molecular Building Blocks for Photoluminescent Hybrid Materials
    Rico Thomas, Senthil Kumar Kuppusamy, Tobias Rüffer +3
    Chemistry (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full text2 citedMaterials & polymersPMC

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{perren2026topologyenforced,
  title = {{Topology-enforced synthesis of atomically precise silver nanoclusters in 3D DNA lattices}},
  author = {Lara Perren and William Livernois and Karol Woloszyn and Jordan Janowski and Vidya R. Singh and Laibah Faiaz and Mara Jaffe and Melkior Colabella and Trent A. McHenry and Claudia E. Avalos and Chengde Mao and James W. Canary and Yoel P. Ohayon and Ruojie Sha and M. P. Anantram and Simon Vecchioni},
  journal = {Science Advances},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aec2365},
  url = {https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aec2365},
  note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Topology-enforced synthesis of atomically precise silver nanoclusters in 3D DNA lattices
AU  - Lara Perren
AU  - William Livernois
AU  - Karol Woloszyn
AU  - Jordan Janowski
AU  - Vidya R. Singh
AU  - Laibah Faiaz
AU  - Mara Jaffe
AU  - Melkior Colabella
AU  - Trent A. McHenry
AU  - Claudia E. Avalos
AU  - Chengde Mao
AU  - James W. Canary
AU  - Yoel P. Ohayon
AU  - Ruojie Sha
AU  - M. P. Anantram
AU  - Simon Vecchioni
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/02
JO  - Science Advances
DO  - 10.1126/sciadv.aec2365
UR  - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aec2365
AB  - DNA nanotechnology leverages the molecular design resolution of the DNA double helix to fold and tile matter into designer architectures. Recent advances in bioinorganic chemistry have exploited DNA/Ag + affinity to carry out the templated reduction of silver nanoclusters. Here, we develop a unified method that leverages the topology of DNA triangles with embedded silver base pairs to nucleate controlled cluster growth in a mesoporous 3D lattice. Use of confocal fluorescence microscopy allows for the direct observation of reaction kinetics and reconstruction of the optical bandgap. These crystals yield molecular structures of Ag 4 and Ag 6 by x-ray diffraction in varying pyrimidine:pyrimidine pairs. Intercluster distances of less than 2 nanometers show observable electronic coupling, with red shifting observed relative to literature standards. A thorough computational investigation establishes a theoretical basis for our observed behavior and establishes the interplay between cluster size, charge, geometry, and resonance. We anticipate that these results will yield advances in materials synthesis, DNA-based plasmonic crystals, and optically active nanoelectronics.
SN  - 2375-2548
ER  -