Adjustable nanofibers self-assembled from an irregular conformational peptide amphiphile

Abstract

A novel peptide amphiphile was elegantly designed to adopt an irregular secondary structure. The peptide could self-assemble into dendritic nanofibers and further yield the peacock-feather-like nanofibers with the deposition of inorganic materials on the dendritic fibers. Triggered by the pH change, the dendritic nanofibers underwent a drastic morphological change and rearranged into parallel nanofibers.