Fabrication of functional 3D nanoarchitectures via atomic layer deposition on DNA origami crystals

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel 3D nanofabrication method that coats DNA origami crystals with functional metal oxides using atomic layer deposition, enabling new applications in electrocatalysis and nanomaterials design.

Contribution

It introduces a versatile technique for conformally coating DNA origami with metal oxides via ALD, maintaining structural integrity and adding functionality.

Findings

Successfully coated DNA origami with ZnO, TiO2, and IrO2 layers.

Demonstrated electrocatalytic water oxidation with ALD IrO2-coated DNA crystals.

Maintained DNA crystal integrity during ALD process.

Abstract

While DNA origami is a powerful bottom-up fabrication technique, the physical and chemical stability of DNA nanostructures is generally limited to aqueous buffer conditions. Wet chemical silicification can stabilise these structures but does not add further functionality. Here, we demonstrate a versatile 3D nanofabrication technique to conformally coat micrometre-sized DNA origami crystals with functional metal oxides via atomic layer deposition (ALD). In addition to depositing homogenous and conformal nanometre-thin ZnO, TiO2, and IrO2 (multi)layers inside SiO2-stablised crystals, we establish a method to directly coat bare DNA crystals with ALD layers while maintaining the crystal integrity, enabled by critical point drying and low ALD process temperatures. As a proof-of-concept application, we demonstrate electrocatalytic water oxidation using ALD IrO2-coated DNA origami crystals, resulting in improved performance relative to planar films. Overall, our coating strategy establishes a tool set for designing custom-made 3D nanomaterials with precisely defined topologies and material compositions, combining the unique advantages of DNA origami and atomically controlled deposition of functional inorganic materials.