Nano-phase separation in the monolayer composed of alpha-helical copolypeptide at air/water interface

Nanometer-scale stripe pattern in the monolayer composed of alpha -helical copolypeptide was characterized with atomic force microscope (AFM). This mo nolayer was formed with the copolypeptide composed of poly(epsilon -benzylo xycarbonyl L-lysine)(x)-poly[(gamma -methyl L-glutamate)(y-z)/(L-glutamic a cid)(z)] (PLLZ(x)-P(MLG(y-z)/LGA(z))). AFM image of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film of this copolypeptide showed a nanometer-scale stripe pattern. This pa ttern seems to be based on the nanophase-separated structure in the copolyp eptide monolayer at air/water interface.