All‐Amyloid Functional Coacervates
Electrostatic complex coacervates offer a robust pathway to convert homogeneous oppositely charged polyelectrolyte solutions into condensed structured liquids via liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). Directing these principles toward artificial, all-proteinaceous complex coacervates enables the development of soft matter systems fully compatible with a broad range of advanced biotechnological products. Here, we employ charge-tunable β-lactoglobulin and lysozyme amyloid nanofibrils as building blocks toward fully proteinaceous functional materials. The functionality is dictated by engineering the composition and self-organization of oppositely charged amyloid nanofibrils at the liquid-liquid interface. Depending on the path and process followed, we demonstrate all-amyloid interfacial complex coacervates in the form of vein-like tubular structures or capsules with tunable electrical or ionic conductivity, viscoelasticity, multidimensional morphology, and programmable macromolecular crowding. These constructs, made solely of amyloid constituents, provide a general platform for artificial protein scaffolds and advanced materials with potential applications in bioelectronics and bio-optics.
Authors
- Raffaele Mezzenga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5739-2610)
- Mohammad Peydayesh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6265-3811)
- Laura Baraldi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1353-8996)
- Mohammad Arjmand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8812-5638)
- Seyyed Alireza Hashemi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4713-6883)
Institutions
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Nanomaterials Research (United States) (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2026-08-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.74737
- Primary Topic
- Polymer Surface Interaction Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00