title: Plasma amino acid coatings for a conformal growth of titania nanoparticles.
abstract: We report on the conformal synthesis of ultrathin films from the amino acid histidine on flat silicon substrates and 3D periodic polymer structures via plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. We demonstrate the efficient utilization of this functional amino acid nanocoating for the formation of individual titania nanoparticles with dimensions from 2 to 15 nm depending upon reduction conditions. The titania nanoparticles were grown directly on histidine-functionalized planar and 3D polymer substrates by a wet-chemistry method that showed uniform surface coverage that reached approximately 75%. This approach demonstrates the potential for modifying the optical properties of periodic porous polymeric structures via direct conformal growth of titania nanoparticles.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Kamil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marczewski
authors.forename: Srikanth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singamaneni
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Slocik
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jakubiak
authors.forename: Rajesh R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Bunning
authors.forename: Vladimir V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Tsukruk
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D006639:Histidine / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D011108:Polymers; D006639:Histidine; D014025:Titanium