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Self-assembled Peptide-pi-electron Supramolecular Polymers for Bioinspired Energy Harvesting, Transport and Management

Project Personnel

John Tovar

Principal Investigator

Johns Hopkins University

Andrew Ferguson

University of Chicago

Howard Katz

Johns Hopkins University

Funding Divisions

Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA), Division of Chemistry (CHE), Division Of Materials Research (DMR)

Nature exquisitely controls the arrangement of key pigments during photosynthesis to harness solar energy. Exerting reliable control over engineered molecular materials in the crucial 10-100 nanometer regime, thousands of times smaller than a millimeter, remains a challenge. This project develops functional molecular superstructures via molecular synthesis, biologically inspired self-assembly, electronic measurements, molecular simulation, and data-driven molecular discovery and engineering. The PIs guide the next generation of materials and data scientists of diverse socio-economic background while promoting tight integration and mutually reinforcing feedback between computation and experiment towards the discovery and development of multi-molecule assemblies with tailored structure and function.

Publications

Computational discovery of high charge mobility self-assembling π-conjugated peptides
K. Shmilovich, Y. Yao, J. D. Tovar, H. E. Katz, A. Schleife, and A. L. Ferguson
1/1/2022
Hybrid computational–experimental data-driven design of self-assembling π-conjugated peptides
K. Shmilovich, S. S. Panda, A. Stouffer, J. D. Tovar, and A. L. Ferguson
1/1/2022
Computationally Guided Tuning of Peptide-Conjugated Perylene Diimide Self-Assembly
S. S. Panda, K. Shmilovich, N. S. M. Herringer, N. Marin, A. L. Ferguson, and J. D. Tovar
7/2/2021
Effect of Core Oligomer Length on the Phase Behavior and Assembly of π-Conjugated Peptides
E. R. Jira, K. Shmilovich, T. S. Kale, A. Ferguson, J. D. Tovar, and C. M. Schroeder
4/14/2020
Discovery of Self-Assembling π-Conjugated Peptides by Active Learning-Directed Coarse-Grained Molecular Simulation
K. Shmilovich, R. A. Mansbach, H. Sidky, O. E. Dunne, S. S. Panda, J. D. Tovar, and A. L. Ferguson
3/17/2020
Torsional Impacts on Quaterthiophene Segments Confined within Peptidic Nanostructures
T. S. Kale, H. A. M. Ardoña, A. Ertel, and J. D. Tovar
1/15/2019

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Research Highlights

Controlling Supramolecular Chirality in Peptide-p-peptide Networks
J. Tovar (Johns Hopkins U.) A. Ferguson (U. Chicago)
2/8/2023
Self-assembled Peptide-p-electron Supramolular Polymers: Student Training and Dissemination
J. Tovar, H. Katz (Johns Hopkins U.) A. Ferguson (U. Chicago)
2/8/2023
Self-assembled Peptide-p-electron Supramolular Polymers:Workforce Training, Outreach, and Data Sharing
J. Tovar, H. Katz (Johns Hopkins U.) A. Ferguson (U. Chicago)
2/8/2023
Conductive Organic-inorganic Nanostructures
J. Tovar and H. Katz (Johns Hopkins U.)
2/8/2023
Self-assembled Peptide-p-electron Supramolular Polymers:Code Sharing and Undergraduate Research
J. Tovar, H. Katz (Johns Hopkins U.) A. Ferguson (U. Chicago)
2/8/2023
Self-assembled Peptide-p-electron Supramolular Polymers: FAIR Data and Student Training
J. Tovar, H. Katz (Johns Hopkins U.) A. Ferguson (U. Chicago)
2/8/2023

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U.S. National Science Foundation and NSF DMREF, Materials for Our Future

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation Award No. 2015237. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation. This site is maintained collaboratively by principal investigators with NSF DMREF awards, independent of the NSF.