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Capillary Flow‐Driven, Hierarchical Chiral Self‐Assembly of Peptide Nanohelix Arrays
Author(s) -
Wang Yuefei,
Qi Wei,
Xing Ruizhe,
Xing Qiguo,
Su Rongxin,
He Zhimin
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced materials interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.671
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 2196-7350
DOI - 10.1002/admi.201700514
Subject(s) - capillary action , materials science , self assembly , nanotechnology , buoyancy , coffee ring effect , dipeptide , evaporation , substrate (aquarium) , chemical physics , liquid crystal , marangoni effect , peptide , convection , mechanics , chemistry , composite material , optoelectronics , thermodynamics , biochemistry , physics , oceanography , geology
Precise control over the chiral self‐assembly of synthetic molecules is of fundamental interest in chemistry and material science. This study reports the hierarchical chiral self‐assembly of a ferrocene‐modified dipeptide in evaporating droplets. The capillary flows during solvent evaporation changed greatly on the self‐assembly of the peptides, leading to the chiral amplification and the formation of well‐defined nanohelixes. By changing the initial temperature difference (Δ T ) between the droplets and the substrate, it is possible to control the fluid mechanical effects under two distinct regimes: the “coffee ring” effect caused by outward capillary flow and the Rayleigh convection by buoyancy force. This allows us to control the orientational growth of peptide nanohelixes with their axis parallel or perpendicular to the substrate. The results highlight the vital roles of capillary flow in directing the hierarchical chiral self‐assembly of peptides and offer new opportunities for the fabrication of highly ordered chiral nanomaterials.