Evaporation-Driven Crystallization of Diphenylalanine Microtubes for Microelectronic Applications

authors	Nuraeva, A; Vasilev, S; Vasileva, D; Zelenovskiy, P; Chezganov, D; Esin, A; Kopyl, S; Romanyuk, K; Shur, VY; Kholkin, AL
nationality	International
journal	CRYSTAL GROWTH & DESIGN
keywords	ASSEMBLED PEPTIDE NANOTUBES; WATER; NANOSTRUCTURES; GROWTH; NANOMATERIALS; LUMINESCENCE; DIPEPTIDES; NANOWIRES; CRYSTALS; CHAINS
abstract	Self-assembly of supramolecular biomaterials such as proteins or peptides has revealed great potential for their use in various applications ranging from scaffolds for cell culture to light-emitting diodes and piezoelectric transducers. Many of these applications require controlled growth,of individual objects in the configuration allowing simple transfer to the desired device. In this work, we grew millimeter-long diphenylalanine (FF) self-assembled microtubes with high aspect ratio via evaporation-driven crystallization of nonsaturated FF solutions, making use of the Marangoni flow in the drying droplets. The growth mechanism was investigated by measuring the microtube length as a function of time. Jerky (steplike) growth behavior was observed and explained by a self-activated process in which additional activation energy is provided through condensation. The calculated growth rate due to the diffusion-controlled process is in agreement with the experimentally measured values. The grown microtubes were successfully transferred to metallized patterned substrates, and their specific conductivity and piezoelectric properties were evaluated as a function of the applied voltage and frequency. A number of piezoelectric resonances were observed and attributed to different vibrational modes excited by the piezoelectric effect inherent to the FF structure.
publisher	AMER CHEMICAL SOC
issn	1528-7483
year published	2016
volume	16
issue	3
beginning page	1472
ending page	1479
digital object identifier (doi)	10.1021/acs.cgd.5b01604
web of science category	Chemistry, Multidisciplinary; Crystallography; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
subject category	Chemistry; Crystallography; Materials Science
unique article identifier	WOS:000371453900043