Protein-Assisted and Polypeptide-Assisted Assembly of Particles and Polymers

Abstract

Nature builds proteins for structure, function and reactivity, which attests to the versatility of placing different chemical groups on the same polymer backbone. Following this same design paradigm, synthetic polypeptides can mimic proteins under some circumstances. One of the more interesting functions is “gatherer”. Gatherer proteins and polypeptides can collect and even align other structures, such as colloidal silica or polymers. From a processing perspective, this function promises latex-like delivery of semiconducting polymers with greatly reduced use of environmentally unfriendly solvents. We also contemplate the polypeptide liquid crystal factory, in which interactions between colloidal particles and polypeptide mesogens assemble particles for covalent, photostimulated crosslinking.