David Stokoe
Using DNA strands to create water soluble nanowires.
Email: d.stokoe1@ncl.ac.uk
Supervisors
- School of Engineering
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
Project description
Nano-fabricated semiconductor devices are the driving power behind all modern-day technologies. Moore’s law states that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles roughly every two years. But this is not possible with current technology. Thus, research is underway into more unusual methods and materials in the hope of incorporating them into future devices.
DNA is a relatively stiff wire-like molecule. It is not electrically conductive. We can bypass this lack of conductivity by adding various semiconducting materials. These include metal sulphides and conducting polymers. The DNA strand acts as a template on which the semiconducting materials can bind and grow. These properties make it ideal for creating wires on a nanometre scale.
Nanowires prepared in this way are water-soluble. They are easy to incorporate into inks for use in creating electronics by inkjet printing technology.
This project will:
- prepare a range of semiconducting nanowires on DNA templates
- incorporate the nanowires into devices such as transistors and sensors
- prepare aqueous nanowire inks and use these to print electronic devices
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are tubes of carbon arranged in a hexagonal lattice. They show both high electrical conductivity and high tensile strength. By incorporating CNTs into the templating procedure, we can add further desirable properties to the nanowires.
Qualifications
- 2:1 Chemistry with MChem Honours