Fabrication of Monodisperse ＂Core-Satellite＂ Nanostructures by DNA-Programming： a Novel Class of Superstructured Building Blocks for Hierarchical Nanoassembly

Monodisperse nanoparticle assembly with tunable structure, composition and properties can be taken as a superstructured building block for the construction of hierarchical nanostruc tures from the bottom up, which also represents a great challenge in nanotechnology. Here we report on a facile and controllable method that enables a high yield fabricatioa of uniform gold nanoparticle （AuNP） coresatellites with definable number （in average） of the satellite particles and tunable coretosatellite distance. The formation of the coresatellite nanostruc tures is driven by programmable DNAbasepairing, with the resulting nanocomplexes being isolatable via gel electrophoresis. By rationally controlling the DNA coverages on the core and shell particles, high production yields are achieved for the assembly/isolation process. As well, benefiting from a minimum DNA coverage on the satellite AuNPs, a strong affinity is observed for the asprepared coresatellites to get adsorbed on proteincoated graphene ox ide, which allows for a twodimensional hierarchical assembly of the coresatellite structures. The resulting hierarchical nanoassemblies are expected to find applications in various areas, including plasmonics, biosensing, and nanocatalysis. The method should be generalizable to make even more complicated and higherorder structures by making use of the structural programmability of DNA molecules.