Table 8.2.

Information obtained from various characterization tools for peptides

Characterization technique	Information obtained
Dynamic light scattering (DLS)	Size of the nanostructures formed and investigation of the kinetics of self-assembly
Thioflavin T fluorescence	Determination of presence of beta-sheet structures. Employed in studying the mechanism of amyloid fibril formation
Surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy	Measurement of fibril growth and elongation
Atomic force microscopy	Investigation of the kinetics of self-assembly, conduct structure manipulation, determine the size and morphology of the nanostructures formed during the self-assembly
Diffraction studies	Nanofiber alignment and determination of cross β-sheet structures
Electron microscopy	Morphology of self-assembled structures
Gel electrophoresis	Determination of monomers and its subsequent polymerization into dimers, tetramers, and oligomers
Circular dichroism	Determination of secondary structure and transition between secondary structures during self-assembly process
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy	Determination of beta-sheet structures