DNA-templated synthesis of amorphous silver nanostructures via fivefold-symmetry-induced crystallization suppression

Abstract Single-element amorphous metals are ideal model systems for understanding glass formation, yet their creation remains extremely challenging due to their strong crystallization tendencies. Here, we introduce a previously unexplored bottom-up route for synthesizing amorphous silver nanostructures under ambient conditions using a DNA origami template with near-fivefold symmetry. The polyanionic DNA scaffold selectively concentrates Ag + ions, which are subsequently reduced in situ to trigger localized nucleation. Importantly, the pentagonal geometry imposes strong spatial confinement and geometric frustration, providing an effective and experimentally validated mechanism for suppressing crystallization in a monatomic metal. Transmission electron microscopy confirms the formation of stable amorphous Ag domains near the symmetry center, while molecular dynamics simulations show that fivefold symmetry increases the information entropy and inhibits long-range order. This work demonstrates the first DNA-templated strategy for producing monometallic amorphous nanostructures and provides direct evidence that geometric symmetry can be used to induce amorphization in crystallization-prone metals. The resulting platform offers a powerful model system for probing amorphization mechanisms and expands the design space for structural control in nanoscale metals.