Strong Electro-Optic Effect and Spontaneous Domain Formation in Self-Assembled Peptide Structures.

ABSTRACT: Short peptides made from repeating units of phenylalanine self-assemble into a remarkable variety of micro- and nanostructures including tubes, tapes, spheres, and fibrils. These bio-organic structures are found to possess striking mechanical, electrical, and optical properties, which are rarely seen in organic materials, and are therefore shown useful for diverse applications including regenerative medicine, targeted drug delivery, and biocompatible fluorescent probes. Consequently, finding new optical properties in these materials can significantly advance their practical use, for example, by allowing new ways to visualize, manipulate, and utilize them in new, in vivo, sensing applications. Here, by leveraging a unique electro-optic phase microscopy technique, combined with traditional s

SUBMITTER: Gilboa B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5604517 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature