Volume 129, Issue 5 pp. 1303-1308
Zuschrift

Interband Absorption Enhanced Optical Activity in Discrete Au@Ag Core–Shell Nanocuboids: Probing Extended Helical Conformation of Chemisorbed Cysteine Molecules

Zhi Yong Bao

Zhi Yong Bao

Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

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Prof. Wei Zhang

Prof. Wei Zhang

Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing, China

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Dr. Yong-Liang Zhang

Dr. Yong-Liang Zhang

Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

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Jijun He

Jijun He

Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

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Prof. Jiyan Dai

Prof. Jiyan Dai

Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

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Dr. Chi-Tung Yeung

Dr. Chi-Tung Yeung

Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

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Dr. Ga-Lai Law

Dr. Ga-Lai Law

Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

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Dr. Dang Yuan Lei

Corresponding Author

Dr. Dang Yuan Lei

Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

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First published: 22 December 2016
Citations: 22

Abstract

Detailed understanding of the interaction between a chiral molecule and a noble metal surface is essential to rationalize and advance interfacial self-assembly of amino acids and metal-mediated anchoring of proteins. Here we demonstrate that individual Au@Ag core–shell nanocuboids can serve as a plasmonic reporter of an extended helical network formed among chemisorbed cysteine molecules, through generating an interband absorption enhanced, Ag-surface-exclusive circular dichroism (CD) band in the UV region. The observed unusual, strong CD response in the hybrid Au@Ag–cysteine system can be used to probe in real time conformational evolution and structural rearrangement of biomolecules in general and also monitor the interfacial interaction between a metal surface and an adsorbed molecule, opening up the possibility of using Ag nanostructures as promising stereochemically attuned nanosensors.

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