DDAO Research Articles

How triacylglycerol thermal history impacts film removal by surfactant solution

Hypothesis: The physical and mechanical properties of triacylglycerols (TAGs), or ‘fats’, depend on their composition and thermal history which, in turn, impact crystal structure and morphology. We examine whether thermal history can be mechanistically related to film removal by a surfactant solution.Experiments: Model TAG mixtures, comprising triolein:tripalmitin:tristearin 0.5:0.3:0.2, were subjected to a range of cooling profiles from the melt (0.5-80°C/min, Newtonian and annealed), and the resulting solid films characterised by microscopy, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and contact angle measurements. Film removal from a model glass substrate by an aqueous surfactant solution of sodium dodecylsulphate and dodecyldimethylamine oxide at room temperature fixed at 25°C was examined under quiescent flow conditions.Findings: Quantitative relations are established between TAG cooling profile, crystal structure and morphology, surface energy γSFE, and removal (or ‘cleaning’). In general, films cooled slowly from the melt yield heterogeneous morphologies with predominantly β1′ phase, higher polar γSFE, and faster removal timescales. By contrast, rapid cooling results in homogeneous films, rich in β2′ phase, low polar γSFE, and long removal times. Our results elucidate the non-trivial impact of TAG thermal history, connecting the multiscale semi-crystalline structure to surface energy, and eventually to film delamination by micellar solutions.

Adsorption of Phenols from Aqueous Solution with A pH-Sensitive Surfactant-Modified Bentonite

The presence of organic pollutants in wastewater remains a prominent environmental concern due to the related ecological and health hazards. In response, this study employs an adsorptive methodology to address the removal of phenol and catechol, utilizing an organo-bentonite material modified with a pH-responsive switchable surfactant, dodecyldimethylamine oxide (C12DAO). The synthesized organo-bentonite (C12DAO-Bt) manifests commendable thermostability resulting from thermogravimetric analyses. The adsorption capacities of C12DAO-Bt concerning phenol and catechol intensify with the augmentation of the C12DAO/bentonite mass ratio. The utmost adsorption capacities of 150C12DAO-Bt, deduced through a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, stand at 5.72 mg·g−1 for phenol and 5.55 mg·g−1 for catechol, respectively. Subject to modification by a pH-responsive surfactant, conditions leaning towards weakly acidic and neutral conditions (pH = 6~7) are conducive to the adsorption of phenolic compounds. Conversely, alkaline conditions (pH = 8~9) facilitate the dissociation of adsorbates from adsorbents. The augmentation of cationic strength within the examined scope incites the adsorption procedure while impeding the desorption efficacy. In the case of cationic species with comparable ionic strengths, Na+ exhibited a superior effect on the adsorption–desorption dynamics of phenol, while Ca2+ exerts a more pronounced effect on those of catechol. Moreover, even following five consecutive acid–base regulation cycles, C12DAO-Bt retains a relatively high adsorption capacity and desorption efficacy, which underscores its exceptional regenerative capacity for removing phenolic compounds from wastewater.

Temporal Control of Fluorescent EuW10 Aggregates for Autonomous DNA Capture and Information Encryption.

Self-assembly exploits noncovalent interaction to offer an effective method for the fabrication of materials. For Na9 [EuW10 O36 ] ⋅ 32H2 O (EuW10 ), the negative charges and abundant oxygen atoms on its surface provide a handle for static self-assembly. New properties are envisioned for EuW10 aggregates which are able to display such kinetics and time-programming characteristics, in order to satisfy more complex and intelligent application scenarios, such as DNA binding and information encryption. In this work, EuW10 coupling with stimuli-responsive dodecyl dimethylamine oxide (C12 DMAO) can generate versatile aggregates with pH-responsive properties. We demonstrated the temporal programming of the assembly and disassembly of EuW10 nanospheres using a pH clock reaction of acid/urease hydrolysis. The pH clock reaction endows EuW10 assemblies with dynamical properties, in which the charges and fluorescence changes are coded in this system. These fluorescent assemblies provide new application in time-programmed DNA capture and information encryption.

Application and characterization of new polymer dust suppression foam in coal mine and tunnel construction space

Severe dust pollution is common in tunnel, coal mine, and other construction sites. Dust suppression foam is a feasible method for dust suppression, but its single function makes it difficult to adapt to complex construction sites. Driving by reconstructing the molecular structure of ecological raw materials and strengthening the network function, a new method of SPI based gel foam dust suppression was proposed in this study. This method was realized through improving the performance of soy protein isolate (SPI) gel by glycosylation and further enhancing the fluidity and foaming performance of SPI by enzymatic hydrolysis. Afterwards, its reaction mechanism and dust suppression mechanism were analyzed. It was found that after the glycosylation of 0.4% SPI with 0.2% xanthan gum (XG) and the subsequent addition of 0.15% transglutaminase (TGase), a relatively stable double reinforcement network structure was generated. This structure was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and other experiments; to be specific, its viscosity was reduced to 28.3mPa·s, and the foaming multiple was improved by 16.8% than SPI. The particle size of foam was observed to reduce to 20-60μm through a three-dimensional microscope, which is more conducive to wetting and capturing coal dust. Then, the prepared solution was compounded with 1.0% dodecyl dimethyl Amine oxide (OA-12) to develop a dust suppression gel foam and it was sprayed on the coal dust. Through experiments on the mine airflow-dust environment simulation platform, the dust suppression gel foam reached a PM10 suppression efficiency of 98.42%, and remained a total dust suppression efficiency of above 98% after 75 days. Moreover, the validity of the molecular model was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The molecular dynamics simulation showed that coal molecules with negative potential attract positively charged OA-12 molecules, and the tail group of OA-12 contacts the hydrophobic sites of the coal at an inclined angle, allowing water molecules to fully contact the coal molecules and improving the wettability; while gel molecules are adsorbed on the surface of coal molecules to play the role of bonding and filling. This research provides a theoretical support for the application of SPI based gel in the field of dust suppression, and develops an environmentally friendly and efficient feasible scheme for dust control in the construction site.

Study on characteristics and microscopic mechanism of composite environment-friendly dust suppressant for urban construction site soil fugitive dust based on response surface methodology optimization.

Soil fugitive dust pollution caused by urban construction sites is a significant problem. To improve the dust suppression efficiency on the urban construction sites, hydroxypropyl guar (HPG), dodecyl dimethyl amine oxide (OB-2), and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) were selected as individual components of the composite dust suppressant using a single-factor test. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optimal mixing proportions. After preparation, the characteristics of the composite dust suppressant were tested. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the composite dust suppressant and explore its mechanism. The results showed that 0.327% HPG, 0.6% OB-2, and 0.5% HPMC were the best compound concentrations. Under optimum conditions, the viscosity of the composite dust suppressant was 151.1 [Formula: see text], penetration time was 61.4s, and water retention rate was 30.67%. Compared with traditional dust control by spraying water, it showed better resistance to evaporation at high temperatures and better wind erosion resistance. The antievaporation rate was 39.42% at 60°C. After 11 d of continuous wind erosion at level 7, the wind erosion resistance rate was as high as 98.24%. The reason for the excellent dust suppression effect of the composite dust suppressant is that the methyl and hydroxyl groups in the solution diffuse to the surface of the soil fugitive dust particles using Brownian motion and gradually approach the corresponding groups in the soil fugitive dust particles. When the distance between the two reaches 10 [Formula: see text], adsorption occurs, causing small dust particles to stick together. Because of the stability of the covalent bonds in the methyl and hydroxyl groups, a stable solidified layer is formed on the soil fugitive dust surface after the evaporation of the composite dust inhibitor solution, thereby avoiding secondary dust. In addition, the composite dust suppressant is noncorrosive and friendly to the construction site environment. Therefore, the composite dust suppressant can effectively reduce soil fugitive dust, alleviate environmental pollution, and provide a reference for preventing and controlling soil fugitive dust on urban construction sites and preparing composite environment-friendly dust suppressants.

Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation Prediction of Proteins in Salt Solution by Deep Neural Network.

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) underlies the formation of membrane-free organelles in eukaryotic cells and plays an important role in the development of some diseases. The phase boundary of metastable liquid-liquid phase separation as well as the cloud point temperature of some globular proteins characterize the phase behavior of proteins and have been widely studied theoretically and experimentally. In the present study, we used a regression and classification neural network to deal with the phase behavior of lysozyme and bovine serum albumin (BSA). We predicted the cloud point temperature and solubility of a lysozyme solution containing sodium chloride by regression and the reentrant phase behavior of BSA in YCl3 solution containing a surfactant dodecyl dimethyl amine oxide (DDAO) by classification. Specifically, our network model is capable of predicting (a) the solubility of lysozyme in the range: pH 4.0-5.4, temperature 0-25 °C, and NaCl concentration 2-7% (w/v); (b) the cloud point temperature of lysozyme in the range: pH 4.0-4.8, NaCl concentration 2-7%, and lysozyme concentration 0-400 mg/mL; and (c) the phase behavior of BSA in the range: DDAO 1-60 mM, BSA 30-100 mg/mL, and YCl3 1-20 mM. We experimentally tested the model at some prediction points with a high accuracy, which means that deep neural networks can be applicable in qualitative and quantitive analysis of liquid-liquid phase separation.

Cooperative Adsorption of Nonionic Triton X-100 and Dodecyldimethylamine Oxide Surfactant Mixtures at the Hydrophilic Silica-Water Interface Studied by Total Internal Reflection Raman Spectroscopy and Multivariate Curve Resolution.

The adsorption of dimethyldodecylamine oxide (DDAO) and Triton X-100 (TX) as single components and mixed systems at the silica-water interface has been studied using total internal reflection (TIR) Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate curve resolution (MCR). In this study, the mixtures of DDAO and TX indicate minimal synergism in the bulk solution; however, the cooperative adsorption behavior on the silica surface is shown with various mixtures of DDAO (up to 1.3 mM) and TX (up to 1.1 mM). Adding the DDAO (up to 0.3 mM) to TX solution, the surface excess of TX shows 30% enhancement, from 1.2 to 1.8 μmol m-2. Adding the DDAO also shifts the TX adsorption isotherms, resulting in the Gibbs free energy change of -2.87 ± 0.73 kJ mol-1. This free energy change is interpreted as the decrease in surface energy when the silica surface charged sites are screened by the DDAO adsorbed layer. Alternatively, when a DDAO solution contains a small amount of TX molecules, i.e., < 30 μM, its adsorption on the silica surface quickly equilibrates. In addition, the formation of a more ordered liquid-crystalline adsorbed layer, as in the case of single-component DDAO adsorption, is not observed.

Nanostructured fluids for polymeric coatings removal: Surfactants affect the polymer glass transition temperature

HypothesisNanostructured fluids (NSFs) based on water, organic solvents and surfactants are a valid alternative to the use of neat unconfined organic solvents for polymer coatings removal in art conservation. The physico-chemical processes underpinning their cleaning effectiveness in terms of swelling/dewetting of polymer films were identified as key in this context. The role of surfactants on polymers’ dewetting was considered to be mainly restricted to the lowering of interfacial tensions. However, recent experiments evidenced that surfactants have an important role in swelling polymer films. ExperimentsFive different amphiphiles were selected, namely: sodium dodecylsulfate, dimethyldodecyl amine oxide, hexaoxyethylene decyl ether (C9-11E6), pentadecaoxyethylene dodecyl ether (C12E15), and methyoxypentadecaoxyethylene dodecanoate (C11COE15CH3). They were combined with a carefully selected organic solvents’ mixture (1-butanol/butanone/dimethyl carbonate) to formulate new NSFs, differing for the surfactant only, and used to perform cleaning tests on surfaces coated with Paraloid B72® and Primal AC33®. Here for the first time, polymer swelling induced by surfactants was quantified and correlated with the glass transition temperature of the two polymers by differential scanning calorimetry, before and after the exposure to the fluids. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering provided additional insights on the interaction mechanism. FindingsNonionics were proven more efficient than zwitterionic/ionic amphiphiles in the polymer swelling, and, overall, methyoxy pentadecaoxyethylene dodecanoate resulted the most effective among the selected surfactants. A direct relation between the effect of surfactants on the polymers’ glass transition temperature and cleaning capacity was established. This finding, fundamental to understand the interaction mechanism between NSFs and polymer coatings or paint layers, is key to achieve a selective, effective and complete removal of polymer coatings, as recently shown in the removal of vandalism and over-paintings from street art.

Sodium Dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and Dimethyldodecyl Amine Oxide (DDAO): Role of temperature and composition

Sodium Dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and Dimethyldodecyl Amine Oxide (DDAO): Role of temperature and composition

Demonstration of pH-controlled DNA-surfactant manipulation for biomolecules.

The understanding of DNA–surfactant interactions is important for fundamental physical biology and developing biomedical applications. In the present study, we demonstrated a DNA–surfactant nano-machine model by modulating the compaction of DNA in dodecyldimethylamine oxide (DDAO) solutions. By controlling DDAO concentration and pH of solution, we are able to adjust the compacting force of DNA so as to pull biomolecular subunits connected to it. The pulling force of the machine depends on DDAO concentration and pH of solution, ranging from near zero to about 4.6 pN for 10 mM DDAO concentration at pH = 4. The response time of the machine is about 3 minutes for contracting and 2 minutes for releasing in 5 mM DDAO solution. We found that DDAO has no significant influence on DNA under basic conditions, but compacts DNA under acidic conditions, which is enhanced with decreasing pH of solution. Meanwhile, we found the accompanying charge inversion of DNA in the process of DNA compaction by DDAO.

Pure and mixed aqueous micellar solutions of Sodium Dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and Dimethyldodecyl Amine Oxide (DDAO): Role of temperature and composition

Aqueous mixtures of anionic and nonionic/cationic surfactants can form non-trivial self-assemblies in solution and exhibit macroscopic responses. Here, we investigate the micellar phase of pure and mixed aqueous solutions of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) and Dimethyldodecyl Amine Oxide (DDAO) using a combination of Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and rheological measurements. We examine the effect of temperature (0–60 °C), on the 20 wt% SDS micellar solutions with varying DDAO (⩽5 wt%), and seek to correlate micellar structure with zero-shear solution viscosity. SANS establishes the formation of prolate ellipsoidal micelles in aqueous solutions of pure SDS, DDAO and SDS/DDAO mixtures, whose axial ratio is found to increase upon cooling. Elongation of the ellipsoidal micelles of pure SDS is also induced by the introduction of the non-anionic DDAO, which effectively reduces the repulsive interactions between the anionic SDS head-groups. In FTIR measurements, the formation of elongated mixed ellipsoidal micelles is confirmed by the increase of ordering in the hydrocarbon chain tails and interaction between surfactant head-groups. We find that the zero-shear viscosity of the mixed surfactant solutions increases exponentially with decreasing temperature and increasing DDAO content. Significantly, a master curve for solution viscosity can be obtained in terms of micellar aspect ratio, subsuming the effects of both temperature and DDAO composition in the experimental range investigated. The intrinsic viscosity of mixed micellar solutions is significantly larger than the analytical and numerical predictions for Brownian suspensions of ellipsoidal colloids, highlighting the need to consider interactions of soft micelles under shear, especially at high concentrations.

RIFM fragrance ingredient safety assessment, dodecyldimethylamine oxide, CAS Registry Number 1643-20-5

• Dodecyldimethylamine oxide; a safety assessment based on RIFM's criteria. • A safety assessment based on 7 human health endpoints plus environmental. • All endpoints were cleared using target data, read-across, and/or TTC.

Cleaning Ability of Mixed Solutions of Sulfonated Fatty Acid Methyl Esters

AbstractHere, we present results from a systematic study on cleaning of oily deposits from solid surfaces (porcelain and stainless steel) by solutions of fatty acid sulfonated methyl esters (SME), sodium salts. The zwitterionic dodecyldimethylamine oxide (DDAO) has been used as a cosurfactant. As representatives of the vegetable and mineral oils, sunflower seed oil and light mineral oil have been used. The process of oil drop detachment from the solid substrates (roll‐up mechanism) has been monitored. In the case of porcelain, excellent cleaning of oil is achieved by mixed solutions of SME and DDAO. In the case of stainless steel, excellent cleaning (superior than that by linear alkylbenzene sulfonate and sodium lauryl ether sulfate) is provided by binary and ternary mixtures of SME, which may contain also DDAO. For the studied systems, the good cleaning correlates neither with the oil/water interfacial tension, nor with the surfactant chainlength and headgroup type. The data imply that governing factors might be the thickness and morphology of admicelle layers formed on the solid/water interface. The results indicate that the SME mixtures represent a promising system for formulations in house‐hold detergency, having in mind also other useful properties of SME, such as biodegradability, skin compatibility, and hard water tolerance.

Emulsion behavior control and stability study through decorating silica nano-particle with dimethyldodecylamine oxide at n-heptane/water interface

Emulsions have been widely applied in subterranean enhanced oil recovery processes, cosmetics and chemistry engineering fields, etc. Current research interests are focusing on improving the stability of emulsion by involving surfactants or colloidal materials. This work aims to enhance the emulsion stabilization by introducing silica nanoparticles (SNP) surface-hydrophobilized/hydrophilized by adding dimethyldodecylamine oxide (OA-12) and to reveal the dynamic behaviors of such composites on the liquid–liquid interface. The synergistic effect between SNPs and OA-12 in solution and on oil/water interface were studied by measuring the zeta potential, interfacial rheology and emulsion viscoelastic rheology, etc. It was found that the oil/water interface viscoelastic modulus are augmented by modified silica nano-particles and at the same time emulsions acquired significant long-time stability. Furthermore, phase transformation was induced with the increase of the concentration ratio between OA-12 and silica nano-particle, the emulsion type change from o/w, then to w/o and back to o/w. It is suggested that the inversions are induced by the mounting adsorption of OA-12 molecules on SNPs, which changes the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of particle surfaces.

Co-assembly behaviors and rheological properties of a salt-free catanionic tetrapeptide/surfactant system in water

The co-assembly behavior of a short tetrapeptide (I3E) and a zwitterionic surfactant (dodecyldimethylamine oxide, C14DMAO) in water have been systematically investigated. The microstructures and properties of the I3E/C14DMAO mixture were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and a HAAKE rotational rheometer. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and circular dichroism (CD) were used to explore the formation of different microstructures. It was found that, with the increasing of C14DMAO, the co-assembly of the I3E/C14DMAO mixture changed from nanofibers to nanosheets, and then finally to wormlike micelles and spherical micelles. And the rheological properties of the mixtures also changed with the increasing of C14DMAO concentration accordingly.

Molecular dynamics study of the aggregation rate for zwitterionic dodecyldimethylamine oxide and cationic dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride micelles

We studied dynamic scaling law for the early stage domain growth in the micelle aggregation process of dispersed surfactant molecules in water for zwitterionic dodecyldimethylamine oxide (DDAO) and cationic dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC) based on all-atomistic molecular dynamics calculations. For both surfactants, the aggregation number N increases in proportion to tα′, where t and α′ are the simulation time and exponent of the dynamic scaling, respectively. When the aggregation is controlled by diffusion, it follows the well-known Lifshitz–Slyozov (LS) law giving the exponent α′ = 1. The values of α′ obtained for DDAO and DTAC are 0.6 and 0.3, respectively, indicating that the aggregation rate is suppressed compared with purely diffusion controlled LS process. The aggregation of DDAO and DTAC may be partly controlled by electrostatic interaction between the aggregates.

Adsorption of Dimethyldodecylamine Oxide and Its Mixtures with Triton X-100 at the Hydrophilic Silica/Water Interface Studied Using Total Internal Reflection Raman Spectroscopy.

Adsorption of dimethyldodecylamine oxide (DDAO) and its mixtures with Triton X-100 (TX-100) at the hydrophilic silica/water interface has been studied using total internal reflection (TIR) Raman spectroscopy and target factor analysis (TFA). The use of a linear vibrational spectroscopic technique helps obtain information on molecular behavior, adsorbed amount, and conformational order of surfactant molecules at the interface. The results obtained from polarized Raman measurements of pure DDAO show insignificant changes in the orientation and conformational order of surface molecules as a function of DDAO bulk concentrations. The adsorption isotherm of pure DDAO shows a change in the structure of the adsorbed layer at concentrations close to the critical micelle concentration (cmc). TFA reveals that, for a low concentration of DDAO (0.30 mM in this study), adsorption of both DDAO and TX-100 in the mixed surfactants was enhanced at low TX-100 concentrations. The synergistic effect is dominant at low concentrations of TX-100, with enhanced adsorption of both surfactants. Although competitive adsorption is effective at high concentrations of TX-100, the presence of a small amount of DDAO at the interface still enhances TX-100 adsorption. When DDAO concentrations are increased to 1.00 mM, TX-100 replaces DDAO molecules on the surface when TX-100 concentration is increased.

Surface activity, micellization and solubilization of cationic gemini surfactant-conventional surfactants mixed systems

In this paper, we have studied the mixed surfactant systems containing a cationic gemini surfactant N,N′-bis(dimethyldodecyl)-1,2-pentanediammonium dibromide (12-5-12) with several differently charged surfactants (cationic/anionic/non-ionic/zwitterionic) by using surface tension, small angle neutron scattering (SANS) under standard condition. All the surfactants have same dodecyl chain but different in polar head group viz. Sodium dodecyl trioxyethylene sulphate (SDES)(anionic), dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB) (cationic), 3-[dodecyldimethyl ammonio] propane sulphonate (C12-PS)(zwitterionic), hexaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C12E6)(non-ionic) and dimethyl dodecyl amine oxide (DMDAO) (cationic-non-ionic). The Clint, Rubingh, Maeda and Rosen approaches were employed to determine various parameters like critical micelles concentration (CMC), surface excess concentration (Гmax), surface pressure at CMC (πCMC), minimum area per molecule (Amin) etc. as well as thermodynamic parameters. Solubilization of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have done in single as well as in mixed surfactant systems. Order of solubilization capacity of PAHs compounds are different in pure/mixed surfactant micelles. The solubilization efficiency towards naphthalene, anthracene, and pyrene were measured and the molar solubilization ratio (MSR), deviation ratio (R) and micelle-water partition coefficient (km) were evaluated for single and mixed systems.

Synthesis and properties of cocotriethoxylpropanediamine oxide

ABSTRACTA new kind of amine oxide surfactant – cocotriethoxylpropanediamine oxide (CTPDAO) – was synthesized by a two-step process. The molecular structure was characterized by FTIR spectra and 1H NMR. The new surfactant showed high surface activity in aqueous solution in the surface tension measurement. Emulsifying capacity and wetting ability were studied in comparison to dodecyldimethylamine oxide (DDMAO). The results indicate that this new surfactant could reach the lowest surface tension of 30.4 mN m−1 in aqueous solution with a critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 0.23 mmol L−1. The wetting ability of DDMAO is better than that of CTPDAO. Compared with CTPDAO, DDMAO shows a greater capacity to emulsify soybean oil, although CTPDAO is a better emulsifying agent for liquid paraffin. The foaming properties and thickening function of DDMAO and CTPDAO mixed with alcohol ether sulfate (AES) and dodecylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) were also investigated. The results show that CTPDAO is a superior foam stabilizer than DDMAO while CTPDAO and DDMAO both have excellent thickening functions.

Modulating self-assembly behavior of a salt-free peptide amphiphile (PA) and zwitterionic surfactant mixed system

A salt-free surfactant system formed by a peptide amphiphile with short headgroup (PA,C16-GK-3) and a zwitterionic surfactant (dodecyldimethylamine oxide, C12DMAO) in water has been systematically investigated. The microstructures and properties of C16-GK-3/C12DMAO mixed system were characterized using a combination of microscopic, scattering and spectroscopic techniques, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), circular dichroism (CD) and rheological measurements. Rich phase transitions have been observed by adjusting the concentration of C16-GK-3. Investigation of the hydrogels of C16-GK-3/C12DMAO with TEM, SEM and AFM showed that all of these hydrogels form nanobelts. The nanobelt formation is performed in a hierarchical manner: β-sheet peptides and C12DMAO first interact each other to form small aggregates, which then arrange themselves to form one dimensional (1D) left-handed ribbons. The ribbons further aggregated into flat and rigid nanobelts. We proposed a mechanism to interpret the self-assembly process according to the specific peptide structure as well as multiple equilibria between the hydrogen bonding interactions between the headgroups of C16-GK-3, between C12DMAO molecules and the headgroups of C16-GK-3, chirality of the amino acid residues and hydrophobic interactions of the alkyl chains.