Quantum Confinement in Self-Assembled Bioinspired Peptide Hydrogels

The self-assembly process of peptide fibrils is followed by spectroscopic measurements, which show that a quantum confinement (QC) nanocrystal structure is formed within the peptide fibrils as they assemble into a hydrogel. The optical and electronic properties of this first bioorganic-inspired QC structure (see figure) are demonstrated to be related to the QC effect.