Antimicrobial Self-Assembling beta-peptide Hydrogels

Microbial contamination of surfaces in everyday use and rapidly growing resistance of microorganisms is an on-going challenge. The aim of this Thesis was to create an innovative design platform for peptide-based antimicrobial materials which are multifunctional, have long term chemical and mechanical stability and can be engineered with different building blocks to target different bacteria. Self-assembling beta-peptides were conjugated with antimicrobial peptides and used to develop new materials that demonstrated strong antimicrobial activity. This research has now established modular mix-n-match design platform for antimicrobial materials and surface coatings that are long-lasting and effective against a range of microbes. These new materials have potential applications in larger scale biotechnology and clinical settings.