Highly stable and self-repairing membrane-mimetic 2D nanomaterials assembled from lipid-like peptoids

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 12252
• Main Authors: Jin, Haibao, Jiao, Fang, Daily, Michael D., Chen, Yulin, Yan, Feng, Ding, Yan-Huai, Zhang, Xin, Robertson, Ellen J., Baer, Marcel D., Chen, Chun-Long
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12.07.2016; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 119/118; 639/638/541/966; 639/638/549/977/974; 639/925/357/1018; Chemistry; Crystallization; Humanities and Social Sciences; Lipids; MATERIALS SCIENCE; Membranes; multidisciplinary; Nanomaterials; Peptides; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); United States > US; China
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12252

An ability to develop sequence-defined synthetic polymers that both mimic lipid amphiphilicity for self-assembly of highly stable membrane-mimetic 2D nanomaterials and exhibit protein-like functionality would revolutionize the development of biomimetic membranes. Here we report the assembly of lipid-like peptoids into highly stable, crystalline, free-standing and self-repairing membrane-mimetic 2D nanomaterials through a facile crystallization process. Both experimental and molecular dynamics simulation results show that peptoids assemble into membranes through an anisotropic formation process. We further demonstrated the use of peptoid membranes as a robust platform to incorporate and pattern functional objects through large side-chain diversity and/or co-crystallization approaches. Similar to lipid membranes, peptoid membranes exhibit changes in thickness upon exposure to external stimuli; they can coat surfaces in single layers and self-repair. We anticipate that this new class of membrane-mimetic 2D nanomaterials will provide a robust matrix for development of biomimetic membranes tailored to specific applications. Biomimetic membranes can be used for various applications such as sensors and separations. Here, Chen et al . report the assembly of lipid-like peptoids into stable and self-repairing 2D membrane nanomaterials that change in thickness when under external stimuli.