Blue Luminescence Based on Quantum Confinement at Peptide Nanotubes

Abstract

We report on observation of photoluminescence (PL) in blue and UV regions of exciton origin in bioinspired material-peptide nanotubes (PNTs). Steplike optical absorption and PL measurements have allowed finding quantum confined (QC) phenomenon in PNTs. The estimations show that QC in these nanotubes occurs due to a crystalline structure of subnanometer scale dimension formed under the self-assembly process. Our new findings pave the way for the integration of PNT in a new generation of optical devices. A blue PL array of a PNT-patterned device is demonstrated.

Ostwald’s rule of stages governs structural transitions and morphology of dipeptide supramolecular polymers

“…The diphenylalanine (FF) structural motif and its derivatives are among the most widely studied minimal building blocks that allow the formation of ordered polymer-like assemblies at the nano-scale [17][18][19][20] . This class of molecular species exhibits effective self-assembly properties, and has been shown to generate a rich variety of ultrastructures, with functional physical and chemical properties, including piezoelectricity 21,22 , luminescence 23 and robust mechanical characteristics [24][25][26][27][28][29] . Moreover, it is becoming increasingly clear that the ability to control the structures of self-assembled peptides at interfaces has great potential for a multitude of future applications 30 .…”

Bioorganic nanodots for non-volatile memory devices

“…A partial list includes: using the FF tubes as templates for metal nanowires or coaxial wires, 1, 3 as templates for the incorporation of photo-sensitizers, 4 as channels for nano-fluidic devices, 5 as efficient carbon electrode coating of supercapacitors, 6, 7 they exhibit one of the strongest measured piezoelectric signal among biological structures, 8 demonstrate pronounced non-linear optical response, 9 and possess unique photoluminescence properties. 10,11 Though the tubular structure of the FF tubes has an advantage for the described above applications, its main disadvantage is in its relatively large size, reaching the μm scale. This disadvantage limits the integration of the FF tubes in nm-scaled bio-electronics devices (as in here).…”

Symmetry of Bioinspired Short Peptide Nanostructures and Their Basic Physical Properties

“…[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. [16,22,23] Basic physical properties that are observed in various bioinspired peptide nanostructures are directly derived from their nano-crystalline packing.…”