Controlled assembly of supramolecular building blocks has the potential to create unprecedented properties tailored through engineering size, composition, and coordination, but significant challenges remain. In natural systems, molecular self-assembly is widespread and is achieved with programmable macromolecules that evolve to organize into complex structures spanning the atomic-to-macro levels. The challenge of programmed assembly in modern nanoscience, on the other hand, is widely recognized. Recently, in catalytic reaction, significant progress has been made in the synthesis of Gold-Platinum (AuPt) bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) in terms of controlling over particle shape, size and composition. However, controls of the narrow sub-3 nanometer size distribution and the precise surface composition has been challenging because of the difficulty with broad synthesis of bimetallic NPs. Here, we demonstrate that the AuPt bimetallic NPs through manipulating the hybrid structure and multiple mutations with Cysteine residues in templated protein assembly on SWNT. In the templated protein, the interparticle distance and composition of AuPt NPs are easily controlled that the results are observed in a significant change on ORR activity of the nanocomposites, and we confirmed the enhanced onset potential of the small and well-organized AuPt NPs arrangement is as high as the commercial Pt/C. This report suggests that the protein self-assembly structure has a potential to be an easily modified, highly ordered electrocatalyst and further it is provide new opportunities of the catalytic reaction by the narrow small size and exquisite composition from bimetallic NPs.

Engineering of templated protein assembly for elucidation of high-performance oxygen reduction reaction: Surfactant-free gold-platinum bimetallic nanoclusters on SWNT-protein assembly

248th National Meeting (2014)

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