Supramolecular Self-Assembly of a Model Hydrogelator: Characterization of Fiber Formation and Morphology
Yuan Gao,
Ryan Nieuwendaal,
Emilios K. Dimitriadis,
Boualem Hammouda,
Jack F. Douglas,
Bing Xu,
Ferenc Horkay
Affiliations
Yuan Gao
Section on Quantitative Imaging and Tissue Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Ryan Nieuwendaal
Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
Emilios K. Dimitriadis
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Boualem Hammouda
NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
Jack F. Douglas
Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
Bing Xu
Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
Ferenc Horkay
Section on Quantitative Imaging and Tissue Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Hydrogels are of intense recent interest in connection with biomedical applications ranging from 3-D cell cultures and stem cell differentiation to regenerative medicine, controlled drug delivery, and tissue engineering. This prototypical form of soft matter has many emerging material science applications outside the medical field. The physical processes underlying this type of solidification are incompletely understood, and this limits design efforts aimed at optimizing these materials for applications. We address this general problem by applying multiple techniques (e.g., NMR, dynamic light scattering, small angle neutron scattering, rheological measurements) to the case of a peptide derivative hydrogelator (molecule 1, NapFFKYp) over a broad range of concentration and temperature to characterize both the formation of individual nanofibers and the fiber network. We believe that a better understanding of the hierarchical self-assembly process and control over the final morphology of this kind of material should have broad significance for biological and medicinal applications utilizing hydrogels.
