National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 38(117), p. 23385-23392, 2020
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Significance It is challenging to develop biomimetic lattice self-assemblies because such materials need to resemble the flexibility and crystallinity of their biological analog. We show that these materials exhibit unique micro- and mesoscopic-ordered ultrafast hydrogen-bond dynamics, which could be a key feature in the lattice self-assembly: the ultrafast dynamics ensure flexibility, whereas the domain-level ordering reflects crystallinity. This scientific insight cannot be revealed without the ultrafast transient vibrational sum-frequency generation microscope, which integrates ultrafast interfacial spectroscopy with interfacial molecular vibrational imaging––a state-of-the-art development.