IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v8y2017i1d10.1038_s41467-017-00613-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning

Author

Listed:
  • Shengjie Ling

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Tufts University)

  • Zhao Qin

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Chunmei Li

    (Tufts University)

  • Wenwen Huang

    (Tufts University)

  • David L. Kaplan

    (Tufts University)

  • Markus J. Buehler

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Shengjie Ling & Zhao Qin & Chunmei Li & Wenwen Huang & David L. Kaplan & Markus J. Buehler, 2017. "Polymorphic regenerated silk fibers assembled through bioinspired spinning," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-00613-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00613-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00613-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-017-00613-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jing Sun & Haonan He & Kelu Zhao & Wenhao Cheng & Yuanxin Li & Peng Zhang & Sikang Wan & Yawei Liu & Mengyao Wang & Ming Li & Zheng Wei & Bo Li & Yi Zhang & Cong Li & Yao Sun & Jianlei Shen & Jingjing, 2023. "Protein fibers with self-recoverable mechanical properties via dynamic imine chemistry," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. D. Eliaz & S. Paul & D. Benyamin & A. Cernescu & S. R. Cohen & I. Rosenhek-Goldian & O. Brookstein & M. E. Miali & A. Solomonov & M. Greenblatt & Y. Levy & U. Raviv & A. Barth & U. Shimanovich, 2022. "Micro and nano-scale compartments guide the structural transition of silk protein monomers into silk fibers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Chenchen Wu & Yu Duan & Lintao Yu & Yao Hu & Chenxi Zhao & Chunwang Ji & Xiangdong Guo & Shu Zhang & Xiaokang Dai & Puyi Ma & Qian Wang & Shengjie Ling & Xiaoxia Yang & Qing Dai, 2024. "In-situ observation of silk nanofibril assembly via graphene plasmonic infrared sensor," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-00613-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.