Koeppel, A. orcid.org/0000-0002-4900-8797, Laity, P.R. orcid.org/0000-0001-8608-875X and Holland, C. orcid.org/0000-0003-0913-2221 (2018) Extensional flow behaviour and spinnability of native silk. Soft Matter, 14 (43). pp. 8838-8845. ISSN 1744-683X
Abstract
Silk fibres are assembled via flow. While changes in the physiological environment of the gland as well as the shear rheology of silk are largely understood, the effect of extensional flow fields on native silk proteins is almost completely unknown. Here we demonstrate that filament stretching on a conventional tensile tester is a suitable technique to assess silk's extensional flow properties and its ability to form fibres under extensional conditions characteristic of natural spinning. We report that native Bombyx mori silk responds differently to extensional flow fields when compared to synthetic linear polymers, as evidenced by a higher Trouton ratio which we attribute to silk's increased interchain interactions. Finally, we show that native silk proteins can only be spun into stable fibres at low extension rates as a result of dehydration, suggesting that extensional fields alone are unable to induce natural fibre formation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2018. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 01 Nov 2018 14:37 |
Last Modified: | 10 May 2024 14:00 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Royal Society of Chemistry |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1039/c8sm01199k |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:138013 |