Hydrophobic collapse-driven nanoparticle coating with poly-adenine adhesives

The mechanism underlying the strong adhesion between DNA with consecutive adenines (polyA) and Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) is experimentally and theoretically studied. We elucidate that the consecutive adenines collectively result in hydrophobic collapse in the adhesion process, which plays a pivotal role for the high adhesion affinity and specificity.