Electronically Active Polydiacetylene-Functionalized Biomimetic Nanosheets

Two-dimensional nanosheets are promising material platforms for biosensing. Sequence-specific polymers offer a high degree of control over the density of functional groups displayed on the sheet surface; peptoids are peptidomimetic materials with high biocompatibility and enzymatic resistance, making them suitable candidates for use as biomaterials. However, there are no examples of conductive peptoid nanosheets, limiting their implementation as a biosensing platform. In this work, we leverage the molecular packing of peptoid nanosheets to template the topochemical polymerization of diacetylenes in situ, imparting emergent electronic properties to the nanosheets through the formation of polydiacetylene via UV irradiation. We identify changes in the electronic and mechanical properties of the cross-linked peptoid nanosheets and characterize their cytocompatibility. This study presents a functionalization strategy to generate an electronically active class of biomimetic nanosheets, providing an approach for researchers to prepare electronic materials from sequence-specific polymers and accelerate the design of biosensors from self-assembling systems.