Anisotropic functionalized nanorods provide orientation dependent properties interesting in several new applications. In this work we seek to identify the design rules for obtaining gold nanorods (Au-NRs) that combine surface-adsorbed polymers of different molecular architecture and chemistry in a spatially resolved manner. The questions we want to answer are whether it is possible to spatially control the functionalization of nanosystems combining curvature and molecular architecture effects, and more specifically, if it is possible to outline rules using molecular modeling to direct and assist the design and experimental synthesis of functionalized Au-NRs.<br/>To that end, we modeled the effect of local curvature on the surface functionalization of Au-NRs with polymer mixtures. The studied functional groups consist of linear and branched peptidomimetic polypeptoids, with PEG branches containing biotin groups. We perform systematic analysis on the adsorption processes varying the backbone length, number of branches, monomer type, polymer sequence, solution conditions, and solvent quality. We found the surface density of each polymer in the mixture to be position dependent, and it can be tuned by changing the polymer mixture pair, as shown in <b>Fig. 1</b>: in all the mixtures shown, the linear peptoid is the same, but its adsorption changes drastically when changing the monomer type of the branched polymer.

Strategies towards controlled surface decoration of Au-NRs

2019 Spring National Meeting

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