Browsing by Author "Alves, Wendel"

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    Shear Alignment of Bola-Amphiphilic Arginine-Coated Peptide Nanotubes
    (2017-01) Hamley, Ian W.; Burholt, Samuel; Hutchinson, Jessica; Castelletto, Valeria; da Silva, Emerson Rodrigo; Alves, Wendel; Gutfreund, Philipp; Porcar, Lionel; Dattani, Rajeev; Hermida-Merino, Daniel; Newby, Gemma; Reza, Mehedi; Ruokolainen, Janne; Stasiak, Joanna; Department of Applied Physics; Molecular Materials; University of Reading; Universidade Federal do ABC; Institut Laue-Langevin; European Synchrotron Radiation Facility; University of Cambridge
    The bola-amphiphilic arginine-capped peptide RFL4RF self-assembles into nanotubes in aqueous solution. The nanostructure and rheology are probed by in situ simultaneous rheology/small-angle scattering experiments including rheo-SAXS, rheo-SANS, and rheo-GISANS (SAXS: small-angle X-ray scattering, SANS: small-angle neutron scattering, GISANS: grazing incidence small-angle neutron scattering). Nematic alignment of peptide nanotubes under shear is observed at sufficiently high shear rates under steady shear in either Couette or cone-and-plate geometry. The extent of alignment increases with shear rate. A shear plateau is observed in a flow curve measured in the Couette geometry, indicating the presence of shear banding above the shear rate at which significant orientation is observed (0.1-1 s(-1)). The orientation under shear is transient and is lost as soon as shear is stopped. GISANS shows that alignment at the surface of a cone-and-plate cell develops at sufficiently high shear rates, very similar to that observed in the bulk using the Couette geometry. A small isotope effect (comparing H2O/D2O solvents) is noted in the CD spectra indicating increased interpeptide hydrogen bonding in D2O, although this does not influence nanotube self-assembly. These results provide new insights into the controlled alignment of peptide nanotubes for future applications.