Bioinspired peptide nanotubes: deposition technology, basic physics and nanotechnology applications

Abstract

Synthetic peptide monomers can self-assemble into PNM such as nanotubes, nanospheres, hydrogels, etc. which represent a novel class of nanomaterials. Molecular recognition processes lead to the formation of supramolecular PNM ensembles containing crystalline building blocks. Such low-dimensional highly ordered regions create a new physical situation and provide unique physical properties based on electron-hole QC phenomena. In the case of asymmetrical crystalline structure, basic physical phenomena such as linear electro-optic, piezoelectric, and nonlinear optical effects, described by tensors of the odd rank, should be explored. Some of the PNM crystalline structures permit the existence of spontaneous electrical polarization and observation of ferroelectricity. The PNM crystalline arrangement creates highly porous nanotubes when various residues are packed into structural network with specific wettability and electrochemical properties. We report in this review on a wide research of PNM intrinsic physical properties, their electronic and optical properties related to QC effect, unique SHG, piezoelectricity and ferroelectric spontaneous polarization observed in PNT due to their asymmetric structure. We also describe PNM wettability phenomenon based on their nanoporous structure and its influence on electrochemical properties in PNM. The new bottom-up large scale technology of PNT physical vapor deposition and patterning combined with found physical effects at nanoscale, developed by us, opens the avenue for emerging nanotechnology applications of PNM in novel fields of nanophotonics, nanopiezotronics and energy storage devices.

Microbial nanowires: an electrifying tale

“…This long-range electron transfer thus has been shown to increase electricity production by 10 times (Reguera et al, 2006). Along the same lines, MNWproducing photosynthetic micro-organisms (Gorby et al, 2006;Sure et al, 2015;2016b) may be helpful in improving the efficiency of photosynthetic microbial fuel cells and microbial solar cells (Rosenbaum et al, 2010;Strik et al, 2011).…”

“…Scientists are using peptides and proteins as building blocks for the construction of nanodevices including sensors and drug delivery vehicles (Petrov & Audette, 2012;Rosenman et al, 2011;Scanlon & Aggeli, 2008). Several peptide nanotubes have been built and can be used as a casting module for synthesis of metal nanowires (Reches & Gazit, 2003;Scanlon & Aggeli, 2008).…”

Symmetry of Bioinspired Short Peptide Nanostructures and Their Basic Physical Properties

“…[5][6][7][8] Compared to oligoand polypeptides, short peptides, which are composed of only 2-3 amino acid units, can be easily synthesized on a larger scale, with reduced cost. [3] Bioinspired short peptide nanostructures display exceptional physical properties, such as high rigidity, [9] piezoelectric and nonlinear optical effects, [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] and visible fluorescence. [17,18] In addition, bioinspired peptide nanostructures are used in diverse applications, such as solar energy conversion, [19] drug delivery, [20] ultra-capacitors, [21] and linear and nonlinear optical waveguides.…”

“…[24,25] In particular, the native non-symmetric space group of the dipeptide diphenylalanine (FF) and dileucine (LL) peptide nanotubes (PNT) [24] provides fundamental physical properties, described by tensors of the third rank, such as piezoelectricity and second harmonic generation (SHG). [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] It was shown that heat treatment at T > 150 8C induces irreversible phase transition in FF and LL PNT, wherein all the physical properties and the structure at all levels (molecular, space symmetry, wettability, and morphology) change. [12,15,17] This phase transition also leads to a transition in the crystal symmetry of the FF PNT, from the non-centrosymmetric hexagonal C 6 point group to a centrosymmetric orthorhombic D 2h point group.…”

Functionalization of nc-Si/SiO2 semiconductor quantum dots by oligonucleotides

“…Макромолекулы коротких олигонуклеотидов, как и макромолекулы белков не содержат ни центров инверсии, ни зеркальной симметрии. Структурное упорядочение таких систем (в любом масштабе) является результатом низкой симметрии их элементарных ячеек, обладающих винтовой или хиральной асимметрией [11,12]. В спектрах комбинационного рассеяния света таких макромолекул должны наблюдаться сильно перекрывающиеся спектральные вклады, генерируемые большим набором атомов для всех функциональных групп, испытывающих также влияние парных взаимодействий и окружающей среды.…”