title: The Strong Influence of Structure Polymorphism on the Conductivity of Peptide Fibrils.
abstract: Peptide fibril nanostructures have been advocated as components of future biotechnology and nanotechnology devices. However, the ability to exploit the fibril functionality for applications, such as catalysis or electron transfer, depends on the formation of well-defined architectures. Fibrils made of peptides substituted with aromatic groups are described presenting efficient electron delocalization. Peptide self-assembly under various conditions produced polymorphic fibril products presenting distinctly different conductivities. This process is driven by a collective set of hydrogen bonding, electrostatic, and π-stacking interactions, and as a result it can be directed towards formation of a distinct polymorph by using the medium to enhance specific interactions rather than the others. This method facilitates the detailed characterization of different polymorphs, and allows specific conditions to be established that lead to the polymorph with the highest conductivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ivnitski
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Moran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amit
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Ohad
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Silberbush
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel.|Department of Biological Science, University of Calgary, Center of Molecular Simulation, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada.
authors.forename: Yoav
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Atsmon-Raz
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Jayanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nanda
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Rivka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cohen-Luria
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel.|The Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Yifat
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel. gonenash@bgu.ac.il.|The Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel. gonenash@bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Gonen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ashkenasy
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel. nurita@bgu.ac.il.|The Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel. nurita@bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Nurit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ashkenasy
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010316:Particle Size; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides
keywords: bio-electronics; chemical evolution; peptide fibrils; polymorphism