An or
gano-soluble, peptide-polymer conju
gate that combines poly(
n-butyl acrylate) with a
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gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-sheet-formin
g peptideis spread at the water surface to investi
gate peptide-
guided self-assembly in a two-dimensional environment. Sin
glelayers of the conju
gate are studied to
gain information on the packin
g, orientation, and structure of the conju
gatemolecules usin
g standard monolayer techniques: isotherms,
grazin
g incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD), and infraredreflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS). At all conditions studied, the stabilizin
g ![](/ima<font color=)
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gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-sheet network consists ofantiparallel
![](/ima<font color=)
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gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-sheets oriented parallel to the air/water interface. The incorporation of temporary switch defects in thepeptide se
gment enables
![](/ima<font color=)
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gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-sheet assembly to be tri
ggered at different packin
g densities. Stable monolayers, with lowcompressibilities similar to peptide monolayers, form when
![](/ima<font color=)
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gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-sheet assembly occurs in monolayers that contain closelypacked conju
gate molecules. Lan
gmuir-Schaefer transfer of the switched monolayer seeded with 1/1000 part stearicacid results in a transferred monolayer containin
g ordered domains with 7 nm wide stripes, a width in a
greement withthe end-to-end distance of the conju
gate molecule. In this interfacial system, hi
gh packin
g densities and a hydrophobicseed molecule play an important role in
![](/ima<font color=)
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gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-sheet network and structure formation. Both effects likely direct the hi
ghlyordered
![](/ima<font color=)
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gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-sheet structure because of
![](/ima<font color=)
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gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-strand preali
gnment. Insi
ghts
gained from self-assembly in this system can beapplied to peptide a
ggre
gation mechanisms in more complex interfacial environments.