No / We demonstrate the self-assembly of bola-amphiphile-type conjugates of dipeptides and perylene bisimide (PBI) in water and other polar solvents. Depending on the nature of the peptide used (glycine-tyrosine, GY, or glycine-aspartic acid, GD), the balance between H-bonding and aromatic stacking can be tailored. In aqueous buffer, PBI-[GY]2 forms chiral nanofibers, resulting in the formation of a hydrogel, while for PBI-[GD]2 achiral spherical aggregates are formed, demonstrating that the peptide sequence has a profound effect on the structure formed. In water and a range of other polar solvents, self-assembly of these two PBI-peptides conjugates results in different nanostructures with highly tunable fluorescence performance depending on the peptide sequence employed, e.g., fluorescent emission and quantum yield. Organogels are formed for the PBI-[GD]2 derivative in DMF and DMSO while PBI-[GY]2 gels in DMF. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first successful strategy for using short peptides, specifically, their sequence/structure relationships, to manipulate the PBI nanostructure and consequent optical properties. The combination of controlled self-assembly, varied optical properties, and formation of aqueous and organic gel-phase materials may facilitate the design of devices for various applications related to light harvesting and sensing.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/11429 |
| Date | 09 June 2014 |
| Creators | Bai, S., Debnath, S., Javid, Nadeem, Frederix, P.W.J.M., Fleming, S., Pappas, C.G., Ulijn, R.V. |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, No full-text in the repository |
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