Self-assembled collagen-like peptide fibers as templates for metallic nanowires

Inspired by nature's ability to fabricate supramolecular nanostructures from the bottom-up, materials scientists have become increasingly interested in the use of biomolecules like DNA, peptides, or proteins as templates for the creation of novel nanostructures and nanomaterials. Although the advantages of self-assembling biomolecular structures clearly lie in their chemical diversity, spatial control, and numerous geometric architectures, it is challenging to elaborate them into functional hybrid inorganic–bionanomaterials without rendering the biomolecular scaffold damaged or dysfunctional. In this study, attachment of gold nanoparticles to collagen-related self-assembling peptides at L-lysine residues incorporated within the peptide sequence and the N-terminus led to metal nanoparticle-decorated fibers. After electroless silver plating, these fibers were completely metallized, creating electrically conductive nanowires under mild conditions while leaving the peptide fiber core intact. This study demonstrates the bottom-up assembly of synthetic peptidic fibers under mild conditions and their potential as templates for other complex inorganic–organic hybrid nanostructures.