Virus-enabled synthesis of titanium oxide nanowires

Abstract

Bio-assisted materials fabrication methods allow for the production of high technology materials and devices at lower costs and with less environmental impact. To expand the biological toolkit for synthesizing materials, we demonstrated titanium oxide nanowire synthesis with use of engineered M13 virus at room temperature. In this virus-enabled synthesis process, negatively-charged titanium fluoro complexes nucleate at positive amine sites on the virus, and a subsequent anion-scavenging reaction drives the synthesis of titanium oxide on the virus. TEM imagery provided visual validation of the nanowire formation, and XRD analysis identified the crystalline structure as anatase.