The broad, long-term goals of this project are to establish technologies for predictably designing and producing ribbon-like nanomaterials and to develop human resources with interdisciplinary expertise. Our system, termed Nanoribbons, is inspired by the self-assembly of polypeptides into beta-sheet structures. Although such beta-rich self-assemblies are suited for constructing filamentous nanomaterials, their inherently dynamic nature prevents precise design.
The specific scientific aims of this project are (i) to establish semi-synthetic routes to larger Nanoribbons and (ii) characterize these Nanoribbons and determine the length dependence of their properties. We will employ an interdisciplinary approach combining tools in chemical protein synthesis, protein engineering, structural biology, biophysics, and nanomechanics to achieve these goals.
The intellectual merit of this project is that it will establish novel and robust design strategies for Nanoribbons with high levels of control over the structure, dynamics and functionalization, which guide the production of novel nanomaterials for a variety of applications.
The broader impacts resulting from this project include (i) development of interdisciplinary platform for research and education, and (ii) establishment of an interdisciplinary collaboration between a U.S. academic institution, a government laboratory and international partners. These will complement the broader impacts of our ongoing activities.
