Peptoid nanosheets as soluble, two-dimensional templates for calcium carbonate mineralization

Chem Commun (Camb). 2015 Jun 25;51(50):10218-21. doi: 10.1039/c5cc03323c. Epub 2015 May 29.

Abstract

Nacre-mimetic materials are of great interest, but difficult to synthesize, because they require the ordering of organic and inorganic materials on several length scales. Here we introduce peptoid nanosheets as a versatile two-dimensional platform to develop nacre mimetic materials. Free-floating zwitterionic nanosheets were mineralized with thin films of amorphous calcium carbonate (of 2-20 nm thickness) on their surface to produce planar nacre synthons. These can serve as tunable building blocks to produce layered brick and mortar nanoarchitectures.