Fabrication of Multilayer Ferritin Arrays

NASA Langley Research Center has developed a method of depositing arrays of a ferritin protein on a substrate to create a thin-film electrode for a bio-nanobattery. The method is a spin self-assembly procedure by which a first ferritin layer is formed on the substrate, followed by building a second oppositely charged ferritin layer on the top of the first to form a bilayer structure. Oppositely charged ferritin layers are subsequently deposited on top of each other until a desired number of bilayer structures is produced. The result is an ordered, uniform, stable, and robust thin-film electrode material of enhanced packing density that provides optimal charge density for the bio-nanobattery.