Bioinspired Cyclic Dipeptide Functionalized Nanofibers for Thermal Sensing and Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Nanostructured dipeptide self-assemblies exhibiting quantum confinement are of great interest due to their potential applications in the field of materials science as optoelectronic materials for energy harvesting devices. Cyclic dipeptides are an emerging outstanding group of ring-shaped dipeptides, which, because of multiple interactions, self-assemble in supramolecular structures with different morphologies showing quantum confinement and photoluminescence. Chiral cyclic dipeptides may also display piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity properties with potential applications in new sources of nano energy. Among those, aromatic cyclo-dipeptides containing the amino acid tryptophan are wide-band gap semiconductors displaying the high mechanical rigidity, photoluminescence and piezoelectric properties to be used in power generation. In this work, we report the fabrication of hybrid systems based on chiral cyclo-dipeptide L-Tryptophan-L-Tryptophan incorporated into biopolymer electrospun fibers. The micro/nanofibers contain self-assembled nano-spheres embedded into the polymer matrix, are wide-band gap semiconductors with 4.0 eV band gap energy, and display blue photoluminescence as well as relevant piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties with coefficients as high as 57 CN−1 and 35×10−6 Cm−2K−1, respectively. Therefore, the fabricated hybrid mats are promising systems for future thermal sensing and energy harvesting applications.

Dielectric and Energy Harvesting Properties of Functionalized Composite Nanofibers Consisting of Boc-Phe-Leu Self-Assembled Dipeptide Inclusions in Biocompatible Polymeric Matrices

“…We may therefore conclude that the incorporation of the dipeptide in a PCL polymer matrix favored the manifestation of its polar proprieties. Recently, we have reported the pyroelectric coefficient of Cyclo (L-Trp-L-Trp)@PLLA and Cyclo (L-Trp-L-Trp)@PCL nanofibers [4], whose values are, respectively, 36×10 -6 Cm -2 K -1 at 315 K and 35×10 -6 Cm -2 K -1 at 323 K, which is an order of magnitude higher than that reported in that work for Boc-Phe-Leu@PCL. Significantly, a study reported a pyroelectric coefficient of approximately 2×10 -6 Cm -2 K -1 for a diphenylalanine microtubes [32] that is the same reported in this work for Boc-Phe-Leu@PCL.…”

“…Peptide nanomaterials offer a range of desirable characteristics, including thermal and mechanical stability, electrical conductivity, piezoelectricity, and optical properties, making them suitable for incorporation into (nano)devices. When dipeptide nanomaterials are integrated into polymeric nanofibers, they create new composite-based materials that exhibit enhanced thermal and mechanical stability [3,4]. These dipeptides can be easily modified through functionalization, resulting in bioinspired and durable semiconductor/dielectric materials.…”

“…Piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity are essential properties of non-centrosymmetric biomaterials, with broad applications. Piezoelectricity enables the conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy [14], while pyroelectricity responds to temperature changes [4]. Understanding and optimizing these properties in biomaterials, such as amino acids and dipeptides, has been crucial for advancing biomaterial development [15][16][17][18][19].…”

A Polymorph of Dipeptide Halide Glycyl-L-Alanine Hydroiodide Monohydrate: Crystal Structure, Optical Second Harmonic Generation, Piezoelectricity and Pyroelectricity

“…Electromechanical coupling is a phenomenon exhibited by amino acids [ 15 , 16 , 17 ], dipeptides such as chiral diphenylalanine nanotubes [ 18 ] and its derivatives [ 19 , 20 ] and cyclic dipeptides such as cyclo-L-phenylalanine-L-tryptophan [ 21 ], cyclo-glycine-L-tryptophan [ 22 ] and cyclo-L-tryptophan-L-tryptophan [ 23 ].…”

Microwaved-Assisted Synthesis of Starch-Based Biopolymer Membranes for Novel Green Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices

“…There is prevalent global pollution with plastics at the macro-and microscales; therefore, it is necessary to limit this kind of pollution in the environment. This is why, in recent years, so many studies have proposed that the use of biopolymers can compete with traditional plastic polymers in many crucial fields such as medicine [1][2][3], the food industry [4,5], safety [6], and energy storage [7][8][9].…”