Abstract
Controlled Assembly and Nanofabrication Strategies for the Construction of Functional Low-Dimensional Heterostructures
The controlled organization of individual molecules and nanostructures with nanoscale accuracy is key for the investigation of nanoscale and single-molecule events in optoelectronic, biosensing and biomimicking platforms. In this regard, we developed different strategies based on the selective functionalization of 0 dimensional (0D; Quantum Dots), 1D (carbon nanotubes) and 2D (MoS2) based mixed-dimensional heterostructures towards the development of novel hybrids for single-molecule studies[1] and different technological applications, from photoresponsive devices[2] to nanoscale biosensing chips.[3] I will focus in particular on the results we obtained employing DNA as a static and dynamic building block for the construction of the aforementioned functional nanohybrids. Finally, I will discuss the fabrication of DNA nanostructures arrays− also via thermal scanning probe lithography patterning[4] − that can permit the multivalent investigation of ligand-receptor molecule interactions in cancer, with nanoscale spatial resolution and single-molecule control. [5]
[1] Journal of the American Chemical Society (2016), 138, 2905-2908; Small, (2017) 13, 1603042; Journal of the American Chemical Society (2017), 139, 17834-17840; Advanced Science (2018), 5, 1800596; Small, (2025), e05186
[2] Advanced Functional Materials (2021), 31, 2105719; Advanced Functional Materials (2025), 2502140
[3] Nano Letters (2018), 18, 4130-4135 ; Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2021), 6, 60, 20184-10189 ; Nature Communications (2024), 15, 7482
[4] Materials Advances (2024), 5, 9376-9382
[5] ACS Nano (2019), 13, 728-73; ACS Nano (2025), 19, 35, 31467–31480
Biography
Matteo Palma is Professor of Physical Chemistry and Nanomaterials in the Department of Chemistry at Queen Mary University of London (UK). Since September 2013 he leads a research group focusing on the controlled assembly of functional nanostructures, down to single-molecule resolution. (Supra)Molecular interactions are employed to drive the self- organization of nano-moieties as building blocks from solution to nanopatterned substrates: carbon nanotubes, 2D nanomaterials and DNA origami are used to this end. Applications range from optoelectronics, to biosensing and single-molecule biological investigations.
Trained as a physical chemist, Prof. Palma received a Masters degree from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 2004 and a PhD degree in 2007 from the University Louis Pasteur, France (now University of Strasbourg) working at the Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS). He then worked as a postdoctoral scientist in the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics at Columbia University (New York, U.S.A.) as part of the groups of Professor James Hone and Dr. Shalom Wind.