Self-assembly of natural tripeptide glutathione triggered by graphene oxide

A facile and straightforward approach for the preparation of graphene oxide-triggered self-assembly of natural tripeptide glutathione gels with different structures is reported. The morphologies of glutathione/graphene oxide gels could be controlled by adjusting the content of graphene oxide. The growth mechanism of the gels with different structures is proposed in this paper: (1) graphene oxide serves as a template to immobilize glutathione, (2) glutathione is oxidized in situ and self-assembled into colloidal particles, (3) colloidal particles anisotropicly grow into different structures under controlled conditions. This work provides new insight for the assembly of peptides with graphene oxide, which will help the design and preparation of new biomaterials.