Free energy of metal-organic framework self-assembly.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) represent an important class of materials. Careful selection of building blocks allows for tailoring of the properties of the resulting framework. The self-assembly process, however, is not understood, and without detailed knowledge of the underlying molecular mechanism, it is difficult to anticipate whether a particular design can be realized, or whether the material adopts a metastable, kinetically arrested state.

Secondary Structure of Rat and Human Amylin across Force Fields.

The aggregation of human amylin has been strongly implicated in the progression of Type II diabetes. This 37-residue peptide forms a variety of secondary structures, including random coils, α-helices, and β-hairpins. The balance between these structures depends on the chemical environment, making amylin an ideal candidate to examine inherent biases in force fields.

Chirality-selected phase behaviour in ionic polypeptide complexes.

Polyelectrolyte complexes present new opportunities for self-assembled soft matter. Factors determining whether the phase of the complex is solid or liquid remain unclear. Ionic polypeptides enable examination of the effects of stereochemistry on complex formation.