Abstract
We have measured the conductance of single peptides covalently bonded to two Au electrodes via S-Au bonds by repeatedly forming a large number of molecular junctions. The conductance decreases exponentially with the peptide length, with a decay constant of β = 0.9 ± 0.1 Å-1, suggesting that tunneling is the mechanism of electron transport in the peptides. The conductance of the peptides is sensitive to the solution pH, due to the protonation/deprotonation of the amine and carboxyl groups of the peptides, which provides titration measurements based on single-molecule conductance.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 5370-5371 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | Journal of the American Chemical Society |
Volume | 126 |
Issue number | 17 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 5 2004 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Catalysis
- General Chemistry
- Biochemistry
- Colloid and Surface Chemistry