Tuning molecular orientation in protein films

The rational design of azurin metalloprotein assemblies suitable for biomolecular electronics application has been achieved by exploiting different surface chemical approaches for growing active protein layers on both metal and insulating surfaces. The formed layers, which have been tested extensively by scanning force microscopy (SFM), spectroscopic ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electrochemical measurements (cyclic and linear voltammetry (CV and LV)), consist of redox active molecules endowed with tuneable orientation according to the particular functional group exploited for surface immobilization. The peculiar molecular arrangement has turned out to be responsible for different transport properties in solid state hybrid electronic planar devices.