STABILIZATION OF METALLIC NANOPARTICLES IN HIERARCHICAL PEPTIDES STRUCTURES

• Grant number: 15/24012-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2016
• End date: July 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Wendel Andrade Alves
• Grantee: Juliane Nogueira Batista Dias Pelin
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The creation of peptides based on nanomaterials has stood out in recent decades due to its versatility and operational advantages. Besides have an easy and smooth synthetic routes, can be applied in various fields including regenerative medicine and cell culture, since they have numerous routes to its functionalization, which, consequently, can promote the formation of fibers, sheets, micelles and tubes. In this context, this project will investigate the nucleation process of the metal particles on substrates composed of mixed peptide sequences based mainly on L-phenylalanine (F) and L-arginine (R) amino acids. Therefore, they will be studied by spectroscopic, microscopic and scatter techniques, the steps of nucleation, growth, and stabilization of the nanoparticles in amphiphilic peptides' colloidal solution. The self-organization process variables of these structures, such as constant critical aggregation, number of aggregation and kinetic constants, will be determined as well as the physicochemical parameters of the medium: ionic strength, pH and solvent polarity. This is intended to establish an overview of inter and intramolecular interactions involved in the formation of hybrid structures containing peptides and metallic nanoparticles, which have potential application as matrices in asymmetric catalysis, since the peptide nanostructures settings formed can influence the stereoselectivity of these reactions.