肽
可塑性
粘度
相(物质)
相变
材料科学
流变学
生物物理学
细胞生物学
化学
纳米技术
生物化学
生物
复合材料
热力学
物理
有机化学
作者
Yu Fang,Junhui Shi,Juan Liang,Dan Ma,Huaimin Wang
标识
DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-56415-7
摘要
The self-assembly of small molecules through non-covalent interactions is an emerging and promising strategy for building dynamic, stable, and large-scale structures. One remaining challenge is making the non-covalent interactions occur in the ideal positions to generate strength comparable to that of covalent bonds. This work shows that small molecule YAWF can self-assemble into a liquid-crystal hydrogel (LCH), the mechanical properties of which could be controlled by water. LCH can be used to construct stable solid threads with a length of over 1 meter by applying an external force on 2 µL of gel solution followed by water-regulated crystallization. These solid threads can support 250 times their weight. Cryogenic electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) analysis unravels the three-dimensional structure of the liquid-crystal fiber (elongated helix with C2 symmetry) at an atomic resolution. The multiscale mechanics of this material depend on the specificity of the molecular structure, and the water-controlled hierarchical and sophisticated self-assembly. Assembly of small molecules offers possibilities in the preparation of materials, but obtaining desirable mechanical strength can be challenging. Here, the authors report the assembly of a tetrapeptide to form a liquid crystal hydrogel, able to support significant weight.
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