Natural materials, such as collagen and spider silk, exhibit a hierarchical structural arrangement and contain reinforcing, ordered domains.  We have utilized these lessons from nature to design peptide-containing polymeric hybrids with controlled structural variations to elucidate the role of hierarchical ordering and structural interplay on mechanical and morphological behavior.  Specifically, elastomeric materials with tunable secondary structure via peptide selection and/or chain length have been fabricated.  Examination of the mechanical response of these peptide-polymer hybrids revealed that the helical and b-sheet of the peptide could be used as structural handles to tailor stiffness, toughness, and extensibility.  The solid-state behavior of these peptidic elastomers offers a diverse approach to nature-inspired materials with applications, ranging from tissue scaffolds to responsive coatings.

Polymer-peptide hybrids: Tuning mechanics via secondary structure

246th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.