Mechanical and thermal stabilities of peptide amphiphile fibres

Abstract

In this study the thermal and mechanical stabilities of self-assembled fibres of palmitoyl functionalized GANPNAAG have been examined. The thermal stability was investigated with circular dichroism, dynamic light scattering and fluorescence measurements monitoring the disassembly upon heating and reassembly upon cooling. The determination of the temperature dependence of the critical aggregation concentration allowed us to estimate the thermodynamic parameters involved in the fibre formation process. The mechanical stability of the fibres was studied using flow-induced birefringence. The peptide based self-assembled structures were found to be thermally stable up to 70 °C, while being fractured by moderate shear flow.