Advanced Functional Polypeptides for Biological, Energy and Electronic Applications

Abstract

Synthetic polypeptides constitute a class of polyamides that may impart the biocompatibility, (bio)degradability and conformational properties of proteins, while also allowing for expanded composition and structure to tune structure-property-performance parameters. This dissertation is focused on the development of peptide-based materials for biological, energy and electronic applications, exploiting their inherent degradability and conformations to direct the properties of the polymer networks. For the biological application, PEGylated β-sheet-forming polypeptides were synthesized for use as extracellular matrices in three-dimensional cell cultures. For the energy and electronic applications, simple natural amino acid synthons were transformed into functional polypeptides for use as active materials in secondary and redox flow batteries. These projects aim to expand scientific perceptions of peptide-based materials beyond the scope of traditional biological applications and to raise public awareness of mindful development of future energy storage systems to incorporate sustainability features in material designs.