Assembly of iron oxide nanosheets at the air-water interface by leucine-histidine peptides.

The fabrication of inorganic nanomaterials is important for a wide range of disciplines. While many purely inorganic synthetic routes have enabled a manifold of nanostructures under well-controlled conditions, organisms have the ability to synthesize structures under ambient conditions. For example, magnetotactic bacteria, can synthesize tiny 'compass needles' of magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ). Here, we demonstrate the bio-inspired synthesis of extended, self-supporting, nanometer-thin sheets of iron oxide at the water-air interface through self-assembly using small histidine-rich peptides.