The aim of this proposal is to study the structure of hydrogel systems formed from fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (FMOC) protected peptides, via the use of nitric oxide radicals. Novel self-assembled hydrogels will be studied using contrast variation SANS. These are hydrogels with tailored physical, chemical, electrical, mechanical (self-healing, shape memory) and biological properties. They are expected to be highly desired in a range of biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, controlled drug release, stem cell engineering, molecular therapies and cancer research. No SANS studies have been performed on these systems and due to their diverse potential applications, it is vital that their structure is understood. The data will provide insights into the molecular packing of gelator species and ultimately provide information on the local structure within the gel network.