Light-induced ferroelectricity in bioinspired self-assembled diphenylalanine nanotubes/microtubes

Abstract

Spontaneous polarization reversal: Saturated polarization-electric field loops with a concave region were obtained from diphenylalanine peptide microtubes (FF PMTs) by combining the action of light during the hysteresis loop measurements (see picture; Ec=coercive field). The existence of ferroelectricity in FF peptide nanostructures was shown experimentally. The ferroelectricity of the FF PMTs is expected to extend their applications to biomedicine and microelectronics. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.