Biological routes to metal alloy ferromagnetic nanostructures

Magnetic nanoparticles have potential applications in high-density memory devices, but their complicated synthesis often requires high temperatures, expensive reagents, and postsynthesis annealing to achieve the desired magnetic properties. Current synthetic methods for magnetic nanoparticles often require post-synthetic modifications, suggesting that the practical application of magnetic nanoparticles will depend on the development of alternative synthetic strategies. We report a biological template to directly grow magnetic nanoparticles of desired material composition and phase under ambient conditions. A phage display methodology was adapted to identify peptide sequences that both specifically bind to the ferromagnetic L1(0) phase of FePt and control the crystallization of FePt nanoparticles using a modified arrested precipitation technique. TEM, electron diffraction, STEM, and X-ray diffraction all indicate these nanoparticles are composed of an FePt alloy with some degree of chemical ordering, and SQUID analysis shows these nanostructures are ferromagnetic at room temperature, possessing coercivities up to 1000 Oe.