Cobalt Ferrite Nanocrystals: Out-Performing Magnetotactic Bacteria

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• 作者：Tanya Prozorov ; Pierre Palo ; Lijun Wang ; Marit Nilsen-Hamilton ; DeAnna Jones ; Daniel Orr ; Surya K. Mallapragada ; Balaji Narasimhan ; Paul C. Canfield ; Ruslan Prozorov
• 刊名：ACS Nano
• 出版年：2007
• 出版时间：October 31, 2007
• 年：2007
• 卷：1
• 期：3
• 页码：228-233
• 全文大小：335K
• 年卷期：0
• ISSN：1936-086X

文摘

Magnetotactic bacteria produce exquisitely ordered chains of uniform magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanocrystals, and the use of the bacterial mms6 protein allows for the shape-selective synthesis of Fe₃O₄ nanocrystals. Cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄) nanoparticles, on the other hand, are not known to occur in living organisms. Here we report on the use of the recombinant mms6 protein in a templated synthesis of CoFe₂O₄ nanocrystals in vitro. We have covalently attached the full-length mms6 protein and a synthetic C-terminal domain of mms6 protein to self-assembling polymers in order to template hierarchical CoFe₂O₄ nanostructures. This new synthesis pathway enables facile room-temperature shape-specific synthesis of complex magnetic crystalline nanomaterials with particle sizes in the range of 40–100 nm that are difficult to produce using conventional techniques.