title: Morphology and Pattern Control of Diphenylalanine Self-Assembly via Evaporative Dewetting.
abstract: Self-assembled peptide nanostructures have unique physical and biological properties and promising applications in electrical devices and functional molecular recognition. Although solution-based peptide molecules can self-assemble into different morphologies, it is challenging to control the self-assembly process. Herein, controllable self-assembly of diphenylalanine (FF) in an evaporative dewetting solution is reported. The fluid mechanical dimensionless numbers, namely Rayleigh, Marangoni, and capillary numbers, are introduced to control the interaction between the solution and FF molecules in the self-assembly process. The difference in the film thickness reflects the effects of Rayleigh and Marangoni convection, and the water vapor flow rate reveals the role of viscous fingering in the emergence of aligned FF flakes. By employing dewetting, various FF self-assembled patterns, like concentric and spokelike, and morphologies, like strips and hexagonal tubes/rods, can be produced, and there are no significant lattice structural changes in the FF nanostructures.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, MOE, Institute of Acoustics and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jiarui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, MOE, Institute of Acoustics and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shuyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, MOE, Institute of Acoustics and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xinglong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong , Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: And Paul K
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Chu
keywords: diphenylalanine self-assembly; evaporative dewetting; morphology and pattern control