Functional and Well-Defined β-Sheet-Assembled Porous Spherical Shells by Surface-Guided Peptide Formation

Abstract

Polypeptides have attracted widespread attention as building blocks for complex materials due to their ability to form higher-ordered structures such as β-sheets. However, the ability to precisely control the formation of well-defined β-sheet-assembled materials remains challenging as β-sheet formation tends to lead to ill-defined and unprocessable aggregates. This work reports a simple, rapid, and robust strategy to form well-defined peptide β-sheet-assembled shells (i.e., hollow spheres) by employing surface-initiated N-carboxyanhydride ring-opening polymerization under a highly efficient surface-driven approach. The concept is demonstrated by the preparation of enzyme-degradable rigid she..