Koeppel, A., Stehling, N., Rodenburg, C. orcid.org/0000-0002-9590-375X et al. (1 more author) (2021) Spinning beta silks requires both pH activation and extensional stress. Advanced Functional Materials, 31 (30). 2103295. ISSN 1616-301X
Abstract
Synthetic silk production has undergone significant technological and commercial advances over the past 5 years, with fibers from most labs and companies now regularly matching the properties of natural silk by one metric or another. Yet the fundamental links between silk protein processing and performance remain largely unresolved and fiber optimization is commonly achieved through non-natural methods. In an effort to address this challenge, data that closes this loop of processing and performance is presented by spinning a native silk feedstock ex vivo into a near-native fiber using just two naturally occurring parameters; pH activation and extensional flow (i.e., spinning rate). This allows us to link previous experimental and modelling hypothesis surrounding silk's pH responsiveness directly to multiscale hierarchical structure development during spinning. Finally, fibers that match, and then exceed, natural silk's mechanical properties are spun and understood by rate of work input. This approach not only provides energetic insights into natural silk spinning and controlled protein denaturation, but is believed will help interpret and improve synthetic silk processing. Ultimately, it is hoped that these results will contribute towards novel bioinspired energy-efficient processing strategies that are driven by work input optimization and where excellent mechanical properties are self-emergent.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Functional Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | acidic vapor; extensional flow; protein acidification; rate of work input; silk spinning |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/K005693/1 ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/N008065/1 EUROPEAN COMMISSION - HORIZON 2020 713475 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 23 Jun 2021 16:31 |
Last Modified: | 01 Mar 2022 12:45 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/adfm.202103295 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:175083 |