Manipulation of peptide-fatty acid bioconjugates on graphene: effects of fatty acid chain length and attachment point.

The non-destructive functionalisation of graphene in aqueous media is a critical process with the potential to enhance the versatility of the 2D nanosheet material as a technological enabler. This could also unlock strategies for a wider uptake of graphene in bio-related applications. Graphene functionalisation can be achieved using peptides that specifically recognise the carbon-based material, resulting in persistent non-covalent adsorption without damaging the nanosheet.

Identification of Parameters Controlling Peptide-Driven Graphene Exfoliation in Aqueous Media.

Bio-inspired approaches represent potentially transformational methods to fabricate and activate non-natural materials for applications ranging from biomedical diagnostics to energy harvesting platforms. Recently, bio-based methods for the exfoliation of graphene in water have been developed, resulting in peptide-capped nanosheets; however, a clear understanding of the reaction system and peptide ligand structure remains unclear, limiting the advance of such approaches. Here the effects of reaction solution conditions and peptide ligand structure were systematically examined for graphene exfoliation, identifying key parameters to optimize material production.

Material composition and peptide sequence affects biomolecule affinity to and selectivity for h-boron nitride and graphene.

Nanosheet heterostructures offer emergent optical/electronic properties. These could be achieved using selective materials binding peptides, but lack of understanding of selectivity impedes advancement. Here we examine peptides with affinity for graphene or h-BN using quantitative experiments and molecular simulation to identify traits for design of 2D nanosheet selective peptides.

Biomimetic strategies to produce catalytically reactive CuS nanodisks.

Copper sulfide materials have diverse applications from cancer therapy to environmental remediation due to their narrow bandgap and easily tuned plasmon. The synthesis of these materials often involves toxic reagents and harsh conditions where biomimetic methods may provide opportunities to produce these structures under sustainable conditions. To explore this capability, simple amino acids were exploited as biological ligands for the ambient synthesis of CuS materials.