Heating treatment is widely used in the preparation of metallic materials with controlled phase behavior and mechanical properties. However, for the soft materials assembled by short peptides, especially simple dipeptides, the detailed influences of heating treatment on the structures and functions of the materials remain largely unexplored. Here we showed that by thermal annealing or quenching of aromatic peptide solutions under kinetic control, we are able to control the self-assembly of peptide into materials with distinct phase behavior and macroscopic properties. The thermal annealing of the heated peptide solutions will lead to the formation of large nanobelts or bundles in solution, and no gels will be formed. However, by quenching the heated peptide solution, a self-supporting hydrogel will be formed quickly. Structure analysis revealed that the peptides preferred to self-assembled into much thinner and flexible nanohelices during quenching treatment. Moreover, the stability of the gels further increased with the repeated heating and quenching cycling of the peptide solutions. The results demonstrated that the heat treatment can be used to control the structure and function of self-assembled materials in a way similar to that of the conventional metallic or alloy materials.

热处理广泛用于制备具有受控相行为和机械性能的金属材料。然而，对于由短肽，特别是简单的二肽组装的软质材料，热处理对材料结构和功能的详细影响尚待进一步研究。在这里，我们表明通过在动力学控制下对芳香族肽溶液进行热退火或淬灭，我们能够控制肽的自组装成具有明显相行为和宏观性质的材料。加热的肽溶液的热退火将导致溶液中形成大的纳米带或束，并且不会形成凝胶。然而，通过淬灭加热的肽溶液，将快速形成自支撑水凝胶。结构分析表明，在淬灭处理过程中，该肽优选自组装成更薄，更柔软的纳米螺旋。此外，随着肽溶液的反复加热和淬灭循环，凝胶的稳定性进一步提高。结果表明，热处理可以以与常规金属或合金材料类似的方式用于控制自组装材料的结构和功能。