Preparation of silica stabilized Tobacco mosaic virus templates for the production of metal and layered nanoparticles.

The use of biological molecules as templates for the production of metal nanoparticles and wires is often limited by the stability of the bio-template and its affinity for nucleating metal deposition. In this study, Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was used as a model bio-template to investigate the use of silica coatings as a means to both enhance template stability and increase its affinity for metal ions. Results indicate that the unmodified TMV particle can function as a template for the growth of thin (<1 nm) silica layers. However, this thin silica shell did not enhance the stability of the template during metal deposition. To increase silica growth on the TMV template, a pretreatment with aniline was used to produce a uniform silica attractive surface. Aniline pretreated templates yielded significant silica layers of >20 nm in thickness. These silica shells conferred a high degree of stability to the TMV particle and promoted the deposition of various metal nanoparticles through conventional silica mineralization chemistries. This process provides a simple and robust method for the layering of inorganics onto a biological template.