Chirality-Matched Piezoelectric Responsiveness and Energy Transfer in Supramolecular Co-Assembly of Dipeptides

The concept of homochirality is fundamental to living systems, where biopolymers exhibit a uniform chiral signature. The absence of heterochiral or racemic biopolymers in nature highlights the importance of homochirality in precise molecular recognition, efficient packing, and controlled folding for maintaining cellular homeostasis and biological function. However, the role of homochirality in governing emergent functional properties in synthetic supramolecular nanomaterials has been less explored. Here, we investigate homochiral recognition of dipeptides at their co-assembled state. Homochiral peptides on co-assembly form supramolecular gels, whereas heterochiral peptides fail to gelify. Co-assembly of homochiral peptides results in the formation of long-range fibrillar network with high aspect ratios, while co-assembly of heterochiral peptides produces short-range, discrete morphology. Computational insight further reveals that dipeptides containing similar chiral α-amino acids promote efficient molecular packing and long-range π-π stacking, whereas dipeptides with opposite chirality disrupt these interactions, leading to short-range assembly. The preference for like-like interactions in homochiral co-assemblies has been explored through FRET and piezoelectric measurements. Homochiral assembly exhibits significantly higher energy-transfer efficiency and enhanced piezoelectric properties than heterochiral assembly. Overall, this study highlights the fundamental concept of homochirality in nature and its relationship with emergent functional properties.