Effect of increased stability of peptide-based coatings in the Casimir regime via nanoparticle doping

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that doping peptide-based coatings with metallic and magnetic nanoparticles enhances their stability and modifies Casimir forces, potentially broadening applications in bioelectronics.

Contribution

It reveals how nanoparticle doping affects Casimir forces and stability in peptide films, introducing superparamagnetic properties for bioelectronic applications.

Findings

Doped peptide films exhibit increased stability due to electromagnetic fluctuations.

Nanoparticle doping enlarges the attractive Casimir pressure range and magnitude.

Magnetic nanoparticles confer superparamagnetism without losing stability benefits.

Abstract

We find that thin peptide films and coatings doped with metallic nanoparticles are more stable due to the role of electromagnetic fluctuations. It is shown that for the doped freestanding in vacuum peptide film the Casimir attraction becomes larger in magnitude. For dielectric substrates coated with peptide films, the nanoparticle doping leads to a wider range of film thicknesses where the Casimir pressure is attractive and to larger pressure magnitudes at the points of extremum. The doping of peptide coatings with magnetic nanoparticles preserves all the advantages of nonmagnetic ones and simultaneously imparts superparamagnetic properties to the coating which could extend significantly the application areas of bioelectronics.