Technology Available for Licensing

Case 11837

Spontaneous assembly of viruses on multilayered polymer surfaces for cost efficient thin-film electrode materials

Keywords:

Monolayer formation, ionic conducting electrolyte, macromolecule, self assembled system, polyelectrolyte multilayer, layer by layer assembly, thin film energy storage device, biomineralization

Applications:

Synthesis and assembly of thin-film electrode materials on ionically conductive multilayers to form lightweight, flexible, Li-ion batteries, solar cells and light emitting diodes.

Problem:

High costs associated with assembling monolayers for nanoelectronic materials

Technology:

A novel concept of electrostatically mediated monolayer assembly of charged macromolecules (genetically engineered M13 viruses) is presented. In this system, electrostatic charge exchange and interlinking between small charged molecules in a medium induces dynamic mobility of large macromolecules, leads to segregation with the medium and finally completes the monolayer assembly on the surface. The two types of monolayer formation techniques described in this invention are: 1) an indirect method of assembly from layered mixture to phase-separate monolayer, 2) a direct assembly on the charged surface. The density and directional orientation of the macromolecules can be controlled by its monolayer assembly.

Advantages:

• Flexibility and variety of inorganic materials that can be grown
• Low cost synthesis and assembly

Inventors:

• Professor Angela Belcher(Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT)
• Professor Paula Hammond(Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT)
• Soo-Kwan Lee (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT)
• Ki Nam (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT)
• Juhyun Park (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT)
• Jifa Qi (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT)
• Piljin Yoo (Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT)

Intellectual Property:

U.S. Patent Application Number 12/278390, filed on March 11, 2010

Publications:

Pil J. Yoo, Ki Tae Nam, Jifa Qi, Soo-Kwan Lee, Juhyun Park, Angela M. Belcher and Paula T. Hammond. Spontaneous assembly of viruses on multilayered polymer surfaces. Nature Materials 5 234 - 240 (2006). doi:10.1038/nmat1596

Please contact: Christopher R. Noble MIT Technology Licensing Officer 1 Cambridge Center, Kendall Square, NE18-501 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142-1601

Email: crn@mit.edu Tel: 617-253-6966 Fax: 617–258-6790 Website: http://tlo.mit.edu