Programing Performance of Silk Fibroin Materials by Controlled Nucleation

Abstract

To examine the mechanism of the network formation of silk fibroin (SF), monodispersed colloidal particles (MDCPs) are used as well defined foreign substrates to quantify their effect on the primary nucleation of β‐crystallites in molecular networks (silk nanofibrils) and the hierarchical network formation of SF. It follows that MDCPs are capable of accelerating the SF gelation by reducing the multistep nucleation barrier, which gives rise to a high density of silk fibril domain networks due to the increase of primary nucleation sites. Consequently, through governing the change in the hierarchical mesoscopic structure, the macroscopic performance of silk materials (e.g., the rheological properties of SF hydrogels and the tensile stress of fibers) can be controlled directly. As SF hydrogels represent a typical example of weak fibril domain–domain network interactions, the increase of fibril domain density leads to weaker gels. On the other hand, SF fibers correspond to strong fibril domain–domain network interactions, the increase of fibril domain density ends up with much tougher fibers. The knowledge obtained provides a facile strategy in controlling the complex hierarchical structure and macroscopic performance of SF materials, and offers useful routes for general design and functionalization of soft materials.

Silk Flexible Electronics: From Bombyx mori Silk Ag Nanoclusters Hybrid Materials to Mesoscopic Memristors and Synaptic Emulators

“…We notice that for supramolecular flexible materials, the stability of the mesoscopic structure of materials is determined by the weak intermolecular interactions . Among these, the basic structure are built based on nanocrystallites networks are one of the most stable.…”

“…Among these, the basic structure are built based on nanocrystallites networks are one of the most stable. β‐crystallites networks and the hierarchical structure give rise to the unusual toughness of spider silk dragline filaments . In other words, the reconstruction of new hybrid meso materials based on β‐nanocrystallization will acquire a stable structure.…”

“…Figure a shows that the hierarchical structure of Bombyx mori silkworm materials consists of the basic structural units of nanofibrils (30–40 nm in diameter). Each nanofibril consists of nano‐β‐crystallites fishnet networks . This allows the engineering of the hierarchical structure by controlling the nucleation of β‐crystallites fishnet networks …”

Fabrication of porous three‐dimensional fibroin structures through a freezing process

“…Regarding the reason for the water insolubility of the produced structures, various scenarios could be considered; first, diffusion of fibroin molecules in each other and only physical locking of them should be mentioned; second, intermolecular interactions can also be involved, both hydrophobic and hydrophilic ones, particularly regarding the major portion of the hydrophobic blocks in the fibroin chain, should be considered the hydrophobic interactions; third, change in the microstructure can be noticed, for example, the formation of β‐sheets or β‐sheet crystallites. Chains may be in the form of building blocks such as domains consisting of a set of chains, globular components, nanospheres, fibrils, micelles, and so on. Even if there were such units in structure (that needs more research for examining), the aforementioned scenarios could take place between the constituent molecules of these units.…”

Silk Composite Electronic Textile Sensor for High Space Precision 2D Combo Temperature–Pressure Sensing

“…In this sense, they are ideal materials to wrap fibrous sensors. Concerning flexible materials engineering, the latest studies reveal that the performance of soft materials is directly correlated with four structural factors: the topology of the structural networks, the correlation length, the orientation, and the interactions of structural units of the mesoscopic structure . Based on these principles, the functionality of soft materials can be modified to add certain functional components to their mesoscopic network structure to endow the materials with additional functions (cf.…”