| Grant number: | 14/50972-1 |
| Support type: | Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International |
| Duration: | June 06, 2015 - August 12, 2016 |
| Field of knowledge: | Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry |
| Cooperation agreement: | CONFAP ; Newton Fund, with FAPESP as a partner institution in Brazil |
| Principal Investigator: | Wendel Andrade Alves |
| Grantee: | Wendel Andrade Alves |
| Visiting researcher: | Francesca Giuntini |
| Visiting researcher institution: | Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), England |
| Home Institution: | Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil |
Abstract
Bottom-up fabrication of nanostructures by supramolecular assembly is an efficient and inexpensive route for the manufacture of a variety of smart materials. Peptide- and carbohydrates low molecular weight organic gelators (LMWOG) can self-assemble to form biocompatible materials with versatile chemical properties, displaying great potential for biomedical applications. The dipeptide diphenylalanine (FF) is a thoroughly studied LMWOG consisting of two covalently linked phenylalanine units. Chemical species containing the FF unit can self-assemble under different Processing conditions into a variety of structures (e.g.: nanotubes, nanofibres, etc.), and adopt characteristic spatial arrangement to form non-covalent hydrogels with unique viscoelastic properties. Thanks to this behaviour and to their low toxicity, FF-based self-assembled materials found numerous applications in the fields of biosensing, imaging, biomineralisation, and regenerative medicine… (AU)