Conductive Organic-inorganic Nanostructures

Dendritic   structures   assembled   via   connections   between mineralizing KCl crystallites initiated by pH-triggered self-assembly of peptide  materials  was  demonstrated.  Connected  structures  were found to be the most important factor for producing highly conductive nanowire assemblies that showed conductivity comparable to that of a metal (~1800 S/cm). Measurements of conductivity over time and conductivity  quenching  by  ammonia  suggested  the  conductivity  of these  dendritic  networks  was  derived  from  proton  doping  of  the central π-electron units in strong acid environment and was facilitated by closely spaced chromophores leading to facile π-electron transfer along the interconnected dendritic pathways. It is expected that more electrically relevant materials may be able to be templated through this approach.

Additional Materials

Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)