Supramolecular gels, which display tunable functionalities, have attracted much interest in a range of areas including health care and energy related technologies.

We have developed versatile gelator systems based on aromatic moieties linked to short peptides, which self-assemble via a unique mechanism involving π-interlocked β-sheets. These systems display highly tunable supramolecular functionalities, including charge transport and bio-activity. Our approach to enhancing functionality and complexity of these systems is focused on the use of biocatalysis to control self-assembly.

Biocatalytic self-assembly allows for controlled access to structures that represent local minima in the free energy landscape. In this way, precise control over molecular order (and therefore function) is enabled by locking structures under kinetic control.

We will also demonstrate fully reversible systems, which are self-selecting with the most stable structures emerging from complex peptide component libraries. Emergent functionalities from such molecular systems include optical, electronic mechanical properties and may find applications in adaptive soft materials in context of bionanotechnology.