Insights into the Biomimetic Synthesis of 2D ZnO Nanomaterials through Peptoid Engineering

Wenchao Yang; Bin Cai; Kacper J Lachowski; Qiuxiang Yin; James J De Yoreo; Lilo D Pozzo; Chun-Long Chen

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c01882

Insights into the Biomimetic Synthesis of 2D ZnO Nanomaterials through Peptoid Engineering

J Phys Chem Lett. 2023 Nov 2;14(43):9732-9739. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c01882. Epub 2023 Oct 26.

Authors

Wenchao Yang^{1

2}, Bin Cai^{1

3}, Kacper J Lachowski^{4

5}, Qiuxiang Yin^{2

6}, James J De Yoreo^{1

7}, Lilo D Pozzo^{4

5

7}, Chun-Long Chen^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Physical Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States.
² School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
³ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, 250100 Jinan, China.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States.
⁵ Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98105, United States.
⁶ The Co-Innovation Center of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Tianjin, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, People's Republic of China.
⁷ Department of Materials Science, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States.

PMID: 37882440
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c01882

Abstract

Achieving predictable biomimetic crystallization using sequence-defined synthetic molecules in mild conditions represents a long-standing challenge in materials synthesis. Herein we report a peptoid-based approach for biomimetic control over the formation of nanostructured ZnO materials in ambient aqueous conditions. A series of two-dimensional (2D) ZnO nanomaterials have been successfully obtained using amphiphilic peptoids with different numbers, ratios, and patterns of various hydrophilic and hydrophobic side chains. By investigating the relationship between peptoid hydrophobicity and the thickness of the resultant ZnO nanomaterials, we found the critical role of peptoid hydrophobicity in the peptoid-controlled ZnO formation. Our results suggest that tuning the hydrophobicity of peptoids can be used to moderate peptoid-ZnO surface interactions, thus controlling the formation of ultrathin (<2.5 nm) 2D ZnO nanomaterials. The peptoid-controlled formation of ZnO nanomaterials was further investigated using ultrasmall-angle X-ray scattering (USAXS). Our work suggests a new approach to synthesizing 2D metal oxide nanomaterials using sequence-defined synthetic molecules.