The Langmuir−Blodgett deposition of organically passivated gold nanoparticles is reported. A monolayer of these particles has been incorporated into a metal−insulator−semiconductor (MIS) structure. The MIS device exhibits a hysteresis in its capacitance versus voltage characteristic, the magnitude of which is dependent on the voltage sweep conditions. Charge storage in the layer of nanoparticles is thought to be responsible for this effect.

Membrane proteomics, the large-scale global analysis of membrane proteins, is often constrained by the efficiency of separating and extracting membrane proteins. Recent approaches involve conjugating membrane proteins with the small molecule biotin and using the receptor streptavidin to extract the labelled proteins. Despite the many advantages of this method, several shortcomings remain, including potential contamination by endogenously biotinylated molecules and interference by streptavidin during analytical stages. Here, we report a supramolecular fishing method for membrane proteins using the synthetic receptor-ligand pair cucurbit[7]uril-1-trimethylammoniomethylferrocene (CB[7]-AFc). CB[7]-conjugated beads selectively capture AFc-labelled proteins from heterogeneous protein mixtures, and AFc-labelling of cells results in the efficient capture of membrane proteins by these beads. The captured proteins can be recovered easily at room temperature by treatment with a strong competitor such as 1,1'-bis(trimethylammoniomethyl)ferrocene. This synthetic but biocompatible host-guest system may be a useful alternative to streptavidin-biotin for membrane proteomics as well as other biological and biotechnological applications.

We describe the use of C 60 fullerene molecules as the charge storage medium in an insulating poly-vinyl-phenol (PVP) polymer. The simple metal-organic-metal (MOM) sandwich structure devices deposited from solution exhibit distinct high and low conduction states, which can be used to program read, write and erase memory operations. The charge transfer and retention in C 60 molecules at room temperature has been confirmed by capacitance-voltage and Raman spectroscopy measurements. Conducting atomic force microscopy has been used to demonstrate that high and low conductance states persist even at the nanoscale.

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