Center for Functional Nanomaterials Seminar

Nature is an unlimited source of inspiration for the development of materials presenting original optical properties. The current structural knowledge of some of these biological assemblies is promising as an inspiration source to try to mimics their supramolecular organizations. The development of simplified system presenting properties close to biological assemblies is of great interest.
Lanreotide is a octapeptides that self-assemble in water into highly monodisperse supramolecular nanotubes, the diameter and wall thickness of which are 244Å and 18Å respectively.[1] Following biomineralization principles, we show that the self-assembled nanotubes can be used as a template to produce micron-long, bilayered silica nanotubes having a monodisperse diameter [2]. The nanotubes organize spontaneously into centimeter-size, highly ordered bundles. The diameter of the nanotubes is control by a single mutation of the peptides [3].
Lamellar hybrid condensed phase in which the QDs are densely packed in the plane of the layers have been prepared [4]. The 3D crystallization of the QDs has been achieved by the addition of actin proteins that polymerize into filaments with well defined pitch and diameter [5].
References:
1] Biomimetic organization: octapeptide self assembly into.., C. Valéry et al, PNAS USA, 2003,100(18), 10258-62.
2] Hierarchical architectures by synergy between dynamical template self-assembly and biomineralization, E. Pouget et al, Nature Materials, 2007, 6, 434-439.
3] Chemical control of peptide nanotube diameter: a strategy based on the structure of the nanotube, C. Tarabout et al PNAS USA, 2011, 108(19), 7679-7684.
4] Interaction between water-soluble peptidic CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals and vesicles: formation of hybrid vesicles and .., A. Dif et al, JACS, 2008, 130(26), 8289-8296.
5] Crystallization of Fluorescent Quantum Dots within a Three-Dimensional Bio-Organic Template of Action Filaments and Lipid.., E. Henry et al, NanoLett, 20