Spherulitic assembly of peptide nanowires via spontaneous crystallization

In this work, the hierarchal arrangement of peptide nanowires was achieved via the spontaneous crystallization of peptide molecules. Peptide molecules, which are structural motifs associated with Alzheimer's disease, assembled into one-dimensional nanowires and spontaneously formed two-dimensional peptide spherulites during crystallization of the peptide melt. The assembly behavior of the peptides could be directed by physically confining the soft mold. Furthermore, a hybrid assembly of small functional molecules, such as photoluminescent Alq3, was also achieved. Our approach offers a simple method for achieving spontaneous long-range crystalline order of building blocks approaching macroscopic dimensions and also a facile hybridization strategy to conjugate biomolecules and functional small molecules.