Fabrication And Characterization Of Peptide Nanofibers/Graphene Nanohybrids

In the past decades, many efforts have been made to explore the organic-inorganic hybrid nanostructures in the field of materials science, biotechnology and nanotechnology due to their multiple properties and wide applications in biomedical field. Among them, carbon materials and one-dimensional self-assembled nanofibers have attracted considerable interest. In this paper, we fabricated the novel nanohybrids based on the graphene and the peptide (or protein) nanofibers. Moreover, we explored the features and mechanism of self-assembled peptides. According to the advantage of the peptide nanofibers and graphene, we tried to develop several kinds of novel nanohybrids with the applications of biosensor and mineralization. The main research contents and conclusions of this paper are shown below:1. A novel peptide nanofiber (PNF) was created by controlling the self-assembly of a specifically designed peptide. The head and tail motif sequences (VIA) of the peptides enable the self-assembly of peptide to form PNF. The center motif sequence (GASLWWSEKL) could promote the formation of silver nanoparticles. Furthermore, we reported the synthesis of biomimetic silver nanowires templated by PNF and then a novel hybrid nanomaterial was obtained successfully by assembling the prepared silver nanowires on graphene nanosheets. It was found that the nanohybrid-based electrochemical sensor showed enhanced performance for the determination of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).2. Another novel peptide molecule with multifunctions was developed. The head and tail motifs (AEAKAEAK) are responsible for the self-assembly and formation of uniform PNF. The center motif (YWYAF) has the ability to bind with GO surface by the sequence-specific material recognition. We expect that the self-assembled PNF can be easily bound onto the surface of GO nanosheets and the created GO-PNF nanohybrid can serve as a potential material for biomimetic mineralization of hydroxyapatite (HA). The cell culture result indicated that the produced GO-PNF-HA minerals have good biocompatibility and can enhance the proliferation ability of the studied cells.3. A three-dimensional (3D) scaffold based on an alternate layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and fibrinogen nanofibers (Fg NF) on a silicon substrate was fabricated and utilized to create a 3D HA scaffold by biomimetic mineralization in 1.5 × SBF for different nucleation periods. The results demonstrated that the Fg NF could promote the nucleation and growth of HA crystals along the axis.