DNA-based nanowires. Towards bottom-up nanoscale electronics

This report describes research on the synthesis and characterisation of electrically conducting DNA-based nanowires. Its focus is the different approaches by which DNA can be used to control material formation and growth. The article covers templating methods for metals, with simple salt reduction, hetero-metal seeding and UHV sputtering techniques. Templating optoelectronic materials, such as binary sulfides and ternary oxides, is also included. For conducting polymers, both templating and DNA-as-scaffold approaches are described and the pros and cons of both methods are considered. The utility of conducting polymer-based materials in the growth of metal wires is highlighted. The importance of electrical characterisation is emphasised and various methods for this are described including recent techniques that facilitate more routine assessment of these properties. The key challenges to be overcome, if nanoscale electronics are to be realised through DNA-based bottom-up assembly, are discussed.