Hierarchical Assembly of D,L-cyclic Peptides for the Construction of New Materials

Abstract

Since the beginning of humankind, chemistry has been essential to overcome societal needs and de iciencies. Over the last years, supramolecular materials have shown potential applications in medicine and material science. In this sense, self-assembling cyclic peptide nanotubes stand out as molecular scaffolds since they allow an exquisite bottom-up control over the inal properties. In this work, cyclic peptides functionalized with aromatic moieties are exploited to obtain novel functional materials such as self-healing hydrogels or self-reporting nanosheets. Their characterization demonstrates that functionalization and assembling triggers are key in the hierarchical assembling process. Finally, preliminary studies indicate potential use of these unique materials as cytoskeleton mimicking systems or catalysts.