Building nanoscale architectures by directed synthesis and self-assembly

Because of the dense chemical varieties and the vast chemical scales, it is feasible to produce complex nanoscale architectures with well-defined structural motifs organized over large areas in two dimensions or volumes in three dimensions. Various methods based on electrostatic interaction and hydrophobic interaction, in situ mineralization, covalent bond and inorganic scaffold, and protein- protein interaction and DNA hybridization, have all been demonstrated to successfully construct multidimensional nanoscale architectures from bottom up. In this review, the existing physical, chemical and biological methods for constructing nanoscale architectures by either directed synthesis or self-assembly are surveyed, with a focus on biological methods, and the mechanisms involved are systematically discussed with selected examples. © 2009 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.