Micro-factory for self-assembled peptide nanostructures

This study describes an integrated micro factory for the preparation of biological self-assembled peptide nanotubes and nanoparticles on a polymer chip, yielding controlled growth conditions. Self-assembled peptides constitute attractive building blocks for the fabrication of biological nanostructures due to the mild conditions of their synthesis process. This biological material can form nanostructures in a rapid way and the synthesis method is less expensive as compared to that of carbon nanotubes or silicon nanowires. The present article thus reports on the on-chip fabrication of self-assembled peptide nanostructures by means of a microfluidic device that is able to resist the harsh conditions imposed by the solvent used during the nanostructure synthesis. This on-chip fabrication was found to be simple, rapid, and convenient. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.