Fig. 3. External stimuli-induced oriented alignment of short peptide self-assembly.

a | Schematic (top) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images (bottom) of self-assembly and alignment of tripeptide (DFFD and ^DFFI) microfibrous structures by in situ ultrasonication⁴⁸. b | Schematic (top) and transmission electron microscopy images (bottom) of the electric field-induced hierarchical alignment of silk nanofibres and the resulting anisotropic hydrogel⁴⁹. c | Schematic (top) and SEM images (bottom) of magnetic field-induced alignment of the self-assembled diphenylalanine dipeptide nantotubes¹⁵. d | Noodle-like strings (left) obtained by injecting aqueous peptide amphiphilic (C₁₅H₃₁CO-VVVAAAEEE(COOH)) solution into phosphate-buffered saline. Uniform birefringence and aligned nanofibre bundles (right) induced by the shear force⁵¹. Part a is reproduced with permission from REF⁴⁸, RSC. Part b is adapted with permission from REF⁴⁹, Wiley-VCH. Part c is adapted from REF.¹⁵, Springer Nature Limited. Part d is adapted from REF.⁵¹, Springer Nature Limited.