Deposition of Intact and Active Proteins In Vacuo Using Large Argon Cluster Ion Beams

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c02510
• Publication Date: 2021-01-15T04:55:11Z
• Authors: Vincent Delmez; Hervé Degand; Claude Poleunis; Konstantin Moshkunov; Mykhailo Chundak; Christine Dupont-...; Arnaud Delcorte
• Keywords: Deposition; Inert

Providing inert materials with a biochemical function, for example using proteins, is cornerstone technology underlying many applications. However, the controlled construction of protein thin films remains major challenge. Here, an innovative solvent-free approach deposition reported, lysozyme as model. By diverting time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer (ToF-SIMS) from its standard analytical large argon clusters were used to achieve transfer. A target consisting pool proteins was bombarded 10 keV Ar5000+ ions, and ejected collected on silicon wafer. The ellipsoidal pattern evidenced by ToF-SIMS analysis, while SDS-PAGE electrophoresis confirmed presence intact collector. Finally, enzymatic activity assays demonstrated preservation three-dimensional structure transferred proteins. These results pave way well-controlled beams investigation more complex multilayer architectures.