10
SELF-ASSEMBLY AND
CATALYSIS
10.1. SELF-ASSEMBLY
10.1.1. Process of Self-Assembly
Proteins are large molecules, with molecular weights in the tens of thousands, found
in virtually all the cells and tissues of the body, and they are essential for life. They
are formed by the successive addition of hundreds of amino acids, each brought to
its site of attachment by a transfer RNA molecule, in an order prescribed by a
messenger RNA molecule. Each amino acid readily bonds to the previous one when
it amves in place. Thus sequences of amino acids assemble into a polypeptide chain,
which continually increases in length to eventually become a protein. This type of
self-assembly process, which occurs naturally in all living systems, has its analog in
nanoscience. Here we also encounter the spontaneous organization of small
molecules into larger well-defined, stable, ordered molecular complexes or aggregates, and we encounter the spontaneous adsorption of atoms or molecules onto a
substrate in a systematic, ordered manner. This process involves the use of weak,
reversible interactions between parts of molecules without any central control, and
the result is a configuration that is in equilibrium. The procedure is automatically
Introduction to Nanotechnology, by Charles P. Poole Jr. and Frank J. Owens.
ISBN 0-471-07935-9. Copyright 0 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
257
SELF-ASSEMBLY AND
CATALYSIS
10.1. SELF-ASSEMBLY
10.1.1. Process of Self-Assembly
Proteins are large molecules, with molecular weights in the tens of thousands, found
in virtually all the cells and tissues of the body, and they are essential for life. They
are formed by the successive addition of hundreds of amino acids, each brought to
its site of attachment by a transfer RNA molecule, in an order prescribed by a
messenger RNA molecule. Each amino acid readily bonds to the previous one when
it amves in place. Thus sequences of amino acids assemble into a polypeptide chain,
which continually increases in length to eventually become a protein. This type of
self-assembly process, which occurs naturally in all living systems, has its analog in
nanoscience. Here we also encounter the spontaneous organization of small
molecules into larger well-defined, stable, ordered molecular complexes or aggregates, and we encounter the spontaneous adsorption of atoms or molecules onto a
substrate in a systematic, ordered manner. This process involves the use of weak,
reversible interactions between parts of molecules without any central control, and
the result is a configuration that is in equilibrium. The procedure is automatically
Introduction to Nanotechnology, by Charles P. Poole Jr. and Frank J. Owens.
ISBN 0-471-07935-9. Copyright 0 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
257