Issue 47, 2021

Morphological transitions in chemically fueled self-assembly

Abstract

In chemically fueled self-assembly, a reaction cycle activates and deactivates molecules for self-assembly. The resulting assembly is dynamic and should be endowed with unique behavior in this kinetically controlled regime. Recent works have mainly focused on design rules for the activation of molecules for self-assembly, thereby assuming that disassembly upon deactivation inherently follows. However, that is not always the case. This work shows a family of peptides that assemble into colloids regulated through a chemical reaction cycle. Despite their similarity in assembly, we find that they follow a different disassembly pathway upon deactivation. The colloids from several peptides completely disassemble as fuel depletes while others transition into fibers. Our findings demonstrate that assembly and disassembly should be taken into account in chemically fueled self-assembly.

Graphical abstract: Morphological transitions in chemically fueled self-assembly

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
30 Jul 2021
Accepted
08 Nov 2021
First published
12 Nov 2021

Nanoscale, 2021,13, 19864-19869

Morphological transitions in chemically fueled self-assembly

K. Dai, M. Tena-Solsona, J. Rodon Fores, A. M. Bergmann and J. Boekhoven, Nanoscale, 2021, 13, 19864 DOI: 10.1039/D1NR04954B

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