Dielectric measurement of two-dimentionally confined biomolecules at the nanoscale

ended

Macromolecular organization and interactions have long been recognized to be strongly influenced by electrostatic and electrodynamics interactions which in turn depend on the molecular polarizability. In particular, molecular polarization plays a fundamental role in the molecular structure of biomolecules like DNA and proteins. Yet, this physical property of biomolecules has remained almost unexplored so far because measurements on the molecular scale are a technical challenge. Previous experimental work mostly relied on standard approaches as such broadband dielectric spectroscopy which are limited to the micrometer scale and, therefore, cannot resolve the polarization properties of single molecules. Hence, new experimental approaches are needed to measure the polarizability of molecules at molecular level. In this project, we will tackle this important issue and develop a novel experimental platform that will allow to access for the first time the polarizability of biomolecules under two-dimensional (2D) confinement. This will be achieved by coupling two novel technologies of nanoscience: scanning dielectric microscopy, a recently developed scanning probe technique, and the 2D-materials technology. We will engineer novel 2D liquid cells by assembling 2D crystals, and we will measure the dielectric properties of the biomolecules confined inside using a scanning probe. This is an ambitious experimental research with a strong interdisciplinary and groundbreaking nature, based on the powerful combination of new microscopic approaches with novel 2D materials. The developed platform will access previously unknown physical properties of biomolecules that are crucial to understand their behaviour. It will provide much-needed feedback for first-principles and mean-field theories and allow a better understanding of biomolecular structure and functions.