Macroporous Materials from Self-Assembling Synthetic Cyclic Peptide-Based Compounds and Deposition of Dipeptide-Capped Gold Nanoparticles on the Surfaces

Two cyclic peptides are separately self-assembled, one on top of the other, utilizing noncovalent interactions - mainly intermolecular hydrogen bonding - to form a one-dimensional array. These one-dimensional arrays are further self-assembled to construct macroporous materials. This is shown from TEM, AFM and FE-SEM analyses. These materials have been used for adsorption and desorption of nitrogen gas. Moreover, they can act as suitable templates for the deposition of dipeptide capped gold nanoparticles on the surfaces of macroporous structures.