title: Dielectrophoresis of gold nanoparticles conjugated to DNA origami structures.
abstract: DNA nanostructures are promising construction materials to bridge the gap between self-assembly of functional molecules and conventional top-down fabrication methods in nanotechnology. Their positioning onto specific locations of a microstructured substrate is an important task towards this aim. Here we study manipulation and positioning of pristine and of gold nanoparticle-conjugated tubular DNA origami structures using ac dielectrophoresis. The dielectrophoretic behavior was investigated employing fluorescence microscopy. For the pristine origami, a significant dielectrophoretic response was found to take place in the megahertz range, whereas, due to the higher polarizability of the metallic nanoparticles, the nanoparticle/DNA hybrid structures required a lower electrical field strength and frequency for a comparable trapping at the edges of the electrode structure. The nanoparticle conjugation additionally resulted in a remarkable alteration of the DNA structure arrangement. The growth of linear, chain-like structures in between electrodes at applied frequencies in the megahertz range was observed. The long-range chain formation is caused by a local, gold nanoparticle-induced field concentration along the DNA nanostructures, which in turn, creates dielectrophoretic forces that enable the observed self-alignment of the hybrid structures.
authors.affiliation: Physikalische Chemie, Mess- und Sensortechnik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany; Department of Biology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Henning-Knechtel
authors.affiliation: Physikalische Chemie, Mess- und Sensortechnik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany; Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G2G2, Canada.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wiens
authors.affiliation: Physikalische Chemie, Mess- und Sensortechnik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lakatos
authors.affiliation: Physikalische Chemie, Mess- und Sensortechnik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany; Kurt-Schwabe-Institut für Mess- und Sensortechnik Meinsberg e.V., 04736 Waldheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heerwig
authors.affiliation: Physikalische Chemie, Mess- und Sensortechnik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Frieder
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ostermaier
authors.affiliation: Physikalische Chemie, Mess- und Sensortechnik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany; Kurt-Schwabe-Institut für Mess- und Sensortechnik Meinsberg e.V., 04736 Waldheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haufe
authors.affiliation: Physikalische Chemie, Mess- und Sensortechnik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany; Kurt-Schwabe-Institut für Mess- und Sensortechnik Meinsberg e.V., 04736 Waldheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mertig
keywords: DNA nanotechnology; DNA origami; dielectrophoresis; gold nanoparticles; self-assembly