Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning
A variety of artificial spinning methods have been applied to produce regenerated silk fibers; however, how to spin regenerated silk fibers that retain the advantages of natural silks in terms of structural hierarchy and mechanical properties remains challenging. Here, we show a bioinspired approach...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Publishing Group
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112695 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1156-0479 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4173-9659 |
| _version_ | 1826202350613692416 |
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| author | Li, Chunmei Huang, Wenwen Kaplan, David L. Ling, Shengjie Qin, Zhao Buehler, Markus J |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Li, Chunmei Huang, Wenwen Kaplan, David L. Ling, Shengjie Qin, Zhao Buehler, Markus J |
| author_sort | Li, Chunmei |
| collection | MIT |
| description | A variety of artificial spinning methods have been applied to produce regenerated silk fibers; however, how to spin regenerated silk fibers that retain the advantages of natural silks in terms of structural hierarchy and mechanical properties remains challenging. Here, we show a bioinspired approach to spin regenerated silk fibers. First, we develop a nematic silk microfibril solution, highly viscous and stable, by partially dissolving silk fibers into microfibrils. This solution maintains the hierarchical structures in natural silks and serves as spinning dope. It is then spun into regenerated silk fibers by direct extrusion in the air, offering a useful route to generate polymorphic and hierarchical regenerated silk fibers with physical properties beyond natural fiber construction. The materials maintain the structural hierarchy and mechanical properties of natural silks, including a modulus of 11 ± 4 GPa, even higher than natural spider silk. It can further be functionalized with a conductive silk/carbon nanotube coating, responsive to changes in humidity and temperature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:06:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/112695 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:06:05Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1126952022-10-01T08:09:59Z Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning Li, Chunmei Huang, Wenwen Kaplan, David L. Ling, Shengjie Qin, Zhao Buehler, Markus J Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Ling, Shengjie Qin, Zhao Buehler, Markus J A variety of artificial spinning methods have been applied to produce regenerated silk fibers; however, how to spin regenerated silk fibers that retain the advantages of natural silks in terms of structural hierarchy and mechanical properties remains challenging. Here, we show a bioinspired approach to spin regenerated silk fibers. First, we develop a nematic silk microfibril solution, highly viscous and stable, by partially dissolving silk fibers into microfibrils. This solution maintains the hierarchical structures in natural silks and serves as spinning dope. It is then spun into regenerated silk fibers by direct extrusion in the air, offering a useful route to generate polymorphic and hierarchical regenerated silk fibers with physical properties beyond natural fiber construction. The materials maintain the structural hierarchy and mechanical properties of natural silks, including a modulus of 11 ± 4 GPa, even higher than natural spider silk. It can further be functionalized with a conductive silk/carbon nanotube coating, responsive to changes in humidity and temperature. National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant U01 EB014976) United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-16-1-2333) United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Grant FA9550-11-1-0199) United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Grant FA9550-14-1-0015) 2017-12-11T20:32:23Z 2017-12-11T20:32:23Z 2017-11 2017-02 2017-12-11T19:14:12Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2041-1723 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112695 Ling, Shengjie et al. “Polymorphic Regenerated Silk Fibers Assembled through Bioinspired Spinning.” Nature Communications 8, 1 (November 2017): 1387 © 2017 The Author(s) https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1156-0479 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4173-9659 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00613-5 Nature Communications Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Nature Publishing Group Nature |
| spellingShingle | Li, Chunmei Huang, Wenwen Kaplan, David L. Ling, Shengjie Qin, Zhao Buehler, Markus J Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning |
| title | Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning |
| title_full | Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning |
| title_fullStr | Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning |
| title_short | Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning |
| title_sort | polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112695 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1156-0479 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4173-9659 |
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