Peptide-Based Functional Materials: Self-Assembly, Properties, Manufacturing Strategies with 3D Printing Techniques

Beyond being products of the genetic code, peptides are increasingly recognized as functional codes that translate molecular information into structural, photonic, and electronic functions. Through self-assembly into α-helices, β-sheets, nanofibers, and nanotubes, peptide-based hierarchical architectures show distinctive optical and electrical properties, including photonic bandgap formation, circularly polarized luminescence, charge transport, ferroelectricity, and piezoelectricity. The advanced nano/microscale manufacturing technologies, particularly three-dimensional (3D) printing, nano/micropatterning, have further expanded their potential by enabling precise spatial control, scalable fabrication, and integration into device-level applications. These developments highlight peptides not only as biomolecular building blocks but also as versatile functional materials with emerging opportunities in optoelectronics, bioimaging, sensing, and energy applications. This review summarizes the photonic and electronic properties of peptide-based materials and their nano/microscale manufacturing strategy, and discusses future prospects arising from the effective manufacturing strategy for self-assembled peptides functional materials.