In nature, the molecular-recognition ability of peptides and, consequently, their functions are evolved through successive cycles of mutation and selection. Using biology as a guide, it is now possible to select, tailor, and control peptide–solid interactions and exploit them in novel ways. Combinatorial mutagenesis provides a protocol to genetically select short peptides with specific affinity to the surfaces of a variety of materials including metals, ceramics, and semiconductors. In the articles of this issue, we describe molecular characterization of inorganic-binding peptides; explain their further tailoring using post-selection genetic engineering and bioinformatics; and finally demonstrate their utility as molecular synthesizers, erectors, and assemblers. The peptides become fundamental building blocks of functional materials, each uniquely designed for an application in areas ranging from practical engineering to medicine.

Controlled binding and assembly of peptides onto inorganic substrates is at the core of bionanotechnology and biological-materials engineering. Peptides offer several unique advantages for developing future inorganic materials and systems. First, engineered polypeptides can molecularly recognize inorganic surfaces that are distinguishable by shape, crystallography, mineralogy, and chemistry. Second, polypeptides are capable of self-assembly on specific material surfaces leading to addressable molecular architectures. Finally, genetically engineered peptides offer multiple strategies for their functional modification. In this article, we summarize the details and mechanisms involved in combinatorial-polypeptide sequence selection and inorganic-material recognition and affinity, and outline experimental and theoretical approaches and concepts that will help advance this emerging field.

Nanotechnology is revolutionizing the way that sensing, electronic, optical, and medical devices are designed because the properties of nanostructures are distinct from their bulk-material counterparts. The incorporation of nanomaterials into devices and sensors to exploit their unique properties has been a challenge because they must be functionalized in a manner that does not destroy their properties. Biological macromolecules can non-covalently or covalently bind to nanomaterials, resulting in the formation of biofunctionalized nanoparticles. These biofunctionalized nanoparticles are exemplified by the peptide-mediated suspension of carbon nanotubes in solution and the templating of bimetallic nanoparticles using multifunctional peptides.

TBP-1 is a 12-amino-acid peptide aptamer that has been isolated as a Ti binder using a peptide-phage system. Subsequent analyses have shown that TBP1 also binds Si and Ag, and has the ability to enhance the formation of titania and silica as well as nanoparticles of Ag. TBP-1 is thus a bifunctional peptide: a binder that also acts as a mediator of mineralization. These two functions can be grafted onto heterologous molecules. For instance, mutational analysis of the TBP-1 revealed that its N -terminal hexapeptide, RKLPDA (minTBP-1), is sufficient for Ti binding. When the surface of ferritin, a nano-sized spherical cargo protein, was ornamented with minTBP-1 either genetically or chemically, the resultant modified ferritin acquired the ability to bind Ti and mediate mineralization. By alternately applying the binding and mineralization activities of the minTBP-1-modified nanocage, we were able to construct, in stepwise fashion, multilayer structures composed of titania (or silica) and nanocages. We named this process the biomimetic layer-by-layer (BioLBL) method. By coupling BioLBL with a conventional top-down lithographic method, in aqua structuralization of a three-dimensional (3D) configuration of nanomolecules was realized. As shown in this article, binding and mineralization activities of peptide aptamers, when they are combined with nanostructured materials, play active roles in manufacturing nanostrucutre in aqua.

Self-assembled materials composed of β-sheet forming peptides hold promise as therapeutics and novel biomaterials. This article focuses on the design and engineering of amphiphilic peptide sequences, especially β-hairpins. Peptides can be designed to intramolecularly fold and then self-assemble on cue, affording hydrogels rich in β-sheet structure. Hydrogels having distinct material properties can be designed at the molecular level by modulating either the peptide's sequence or the environmental stimulus used to trigger folding and assembly, leading to gelation.

Biological molecules such as oligonucleotides, proteins, or peptides can be used for the synthesis, recognition, and assembly of materials with nanoscale dimensions. Of particular interest are the fields of near-field optics and plasmonics. Many potential optical applications depend on the ability to control the relative positioning of organic dyes, plasmon-resonant metal nanoparticles, and semiconductor quantum dots with nanoscale precision. In this article, we describe some recent achievements in biological assembly and nanophotonics, and discuss potential uses of biological materials for assembling optically functional nanostructures. We emphasize the use of biological materials to build well-defined nanostructures for near-field plasmon-enhanced fluorescence.

To Turnbull's study of the kinetic problem of nucleation and growth of crystals, we add the further enquiry into what lies behind the slow nucleation kinetics of glass-formers. Our answer to this question leads to the proposal of conditions in which a pure liquid metal, monatomic and elemental, can be vitrified. Using the case of high-pressure liquid germanium, we give electron microscope evidence for the validity of our thinking.

On the question of how liquids behave when crystals do not form, Turnbull pioneered the study of glass transitions in metallic alloys, measuring the heat capacity change at the glass transition Tg for the first time, and developing with Cohen the free volume model for the temperature dependence of liquid transport properties approaching Tg. We extend the phenomenological picture to include networks where free volume does not play a role and reveal a pattern of behavior that provides for a classification of glass-formers (from “strong” to “fragile”). Where Turnbull studied supercooled liquid metals and P4 to the homogeneous nucleation limit using small droplets, we studied supercooled water in capillaries and emulsions to the homogeneous nucleation limit near −40°C. We discuss the puzzling divergences observed that are now seen as part of a cooperative transition that leads to very untypical glass-transition behavior at lower temperatures (when crystallization is bypassed by hyperquenching). Finally, we show how our interpretation of water behavior can be seen as a bridge between the behavior of the “strong” (network) liquids of classical glass science (e.g., SiO2) and the “fragile” behavior of typical molecular glass-formers. The link is made using a “Gaussian excitations” model by Matyushov and the author in which the spike in heat capacity for water is pushed by cooperativity (disorder stabilization of excitations) into a first-order transition to the ground state, at a temperature typically below Tg. In exceptional cases like triphenyl phosphite, this liquid-to-glass first-order transition lies above Tg and can be studied in detail.