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.

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