Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Nanostructured Electrospun Fibers with Self-assembled Cyclo-L-Tryptophan-L-Tyrosine Dipeptide as Piezoelectric Materials and Optical Second Harmonic Generators

Daniela Santos
,
Rosa M. F. Baptista
* ,
Adelino Handa
,
Bernardo Almeida
,
Pedro V. Rodrigues
ORCID logo ,
Cidália Castro
ORCID logo ,
Ana Machado
* ,
Manuel J. L. F. Rodrigues
ORCID logo ,
Michael Belsley
ORCID logo ,
Etelvina De Matos Gomes
Version 1 : Received: 20 June 2023 / Approved: 21 June 2023 / Online: 21 June 2023 (15:20:07 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Santos, D.; Baptista, R.M.F.; Handa, A.; Almeida, B.; Rodrigues, P.V.; Castro, C.; Machado, A.; Rodrigues, M.J.L.F.; Belsley, M.; de Matos Gomes, E. Nanostructured Electrospun Fibers with Self-Assembled Cyclo-L-Tryptophan-L-Tyrosine Dipeptide as Piezoelectric Materials and Optical Second Harmonic Generators. Materials 2023, 16, 4993. Santos, D.; Baptista, R.M.F.; Handa, A.; Almeida, B.; Rodrigues, P.V.; Castro, C.; Machado, A.; Rodrigues, M.J.L.F.; Belsley, M.; de Matos Gomes, E. Nanostructured Electrospun Fibers with Self-Assembled Cyclo-L-Tryptophan-L-Tyrosine Dipeptide as Piezoelectric Materials and Optical Second Harmonic Generators. Materials 2023, 16, 4993.

Abstract

The potential use of nanostructured dipeptide self-assemblies in materials science for energy harvesting devices is a highly sought-after area of research. Specifically, aromatic cyclo-dipeptides containing tryptophan have garnered attention due to their wide-bandgap semiconductor properties, high mechanical rigidity, photoluminescence, and nonlinear optical behavior. In this study, we present the development of a hybrid system comprising biopolymer electrospun fibers incorporated with the chiral cyclo-dipeptide L-Tryptophan-L-Tyrosine. The resulting nanofibers are wide-bandgap semiconductors (bandgap energy 4.0 eV) and consist of self-assembled nanotubes embedded within a polymer matrix, exhibiting intense blue photoluminescence. Moreover, the cyclo-dipeptide L-Tryptophan-L-Tyrosine incorporated into polycaprolactone nanofibers displays a strong effective second harmonic generation signal of 0.36 pm/V and also shows notable piezoelectric properties with a high effective coefficient of 22 pCN−1. These hybrid systems hold great promise for applications in the field of nanoenergy harvesting and nanophotonics.

Keywords

cyclo-dipeptide; electrospinning; piezoelectricity; nanofibers; optical second harmonic generation; self-assembly

Subject

Chemistry and Materials Science, Materials Science and Technology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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