DNA has been widely used in the construction of periodically patterned 2-D structures; highly symmetric 3-D structures. Recently, the combination of oligonucleotides with small organic molecules (mainly terphenyls or complexes) permitted the fabrication of geometric objects. Due to the symmetry of the phenyl ring, the realization of 2-D structures with angle of 60°, 120° or 180° is easily predictable. It is however much more difficult to obtain structures exhibiting different angles. This lack of versatility of the actual systems led us to introduce [60]fullerene as new building block for the construction of nanostructures.

The project aims mainly to realize 2-D and 3-D networks of DNA using the particular topology of functionalized C60 as nodes in the network. We want to build and control the formation of composite materials by the understanding and tailoring of: 1) the position of the functional groups on the carbon sphere and 2) the predictability of DNA-directed assemblies. The assemblies will used for positioning nanoparticles and chromophores for nanophotonic applications

For this project a strong background in organic chemistry or physical chemistry is required and knowledge/experience in biochemistry is an advantage.