Melamine-DNA Hybrid Molecule Encoded Periodicity of Quantum dot

Arrays

Prolay Das, PhD (Georgia Tech, USA),

Associate Professor

Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Patna 801103, Bihar, India

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Formation of QD-array in solution phase guided by the self-assembly with DNA-melamine hybrid molecules is reported for the first time. Melamine was conjugated with ssDNA using phosphoramidate chemistry. Aqueous soluble ZnSe/ZnS QDs conjugated to complementary ssDNA was self-assembled with the DNA-melamine hybrid molecules by DNA-hybridization. Our research at IIT Patna has successfully led to the self-assembly process for precise positioning of the QDs in QDs array where the inter QD distance is being maintained by the DNA sequence length. The QD array was characterized by gel electrophoresis, UV-visible and fluorescence spectrophotometry and circular dichroism. Direct visualization of the DNA-melamine hybrid molecule mediated QD array was made possible by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. Substantial increase in the fluorescence intensity and lifetime of the QDs was observed on array formation by DNA self-assembly. This research was done in collaboration with BARC, Mumbai and published in “Journal of Colloid and Interface Sciences”.