Tubulin assemblies as biomolecular templates for nanostructure synthesis: from nanoparticle arrays to nanowires

Particles and nanotubes were synthesized after incubation with a metal salt and subsequent chemical reduction of the formed metal/biomolecule complexes. As investigated by scanning force microscopy (SFM) and electron microscopy, the nucleation and growth of metal clusters as well as continuous metal layers on microtubules lead to the template-directed formation of micrometer-long particle chains,or metal nanotubes. Copyright (C) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.