Directional Assembly of Nanoparticles by DNA Shapes: Towards Designed Architectures and Functionality

In bottom-up self-assembly, DNA nanotechnology plays a vital role in the development of novel materials and promises to revolutionize nanoscale manufacturing technologies. DNA shapes exhibit many versatile characteristics, such as their addressability and programmability, which can be used for determining the organization of nanoparticles. Furthermore, the precise design of DNA tiles and origami provides a promising technique to synthesize various complex desired architectures. These nanoparticle-based structures with targeted organizations open the possibility to specific applications in sensing, optics, catalysis, among others. Here we review progress in the development and design of DNA shapes for the self-assembly of nanoparticles and discuss the broad range of applications for these architectures.