Ultra‐Strong Regenerated Wool Keratin Fibers Regulating via Keratin Conformational Transition

Abstract

By virtue of remarkable biocompatibility and their promising applications in biomedical fields, biomass‐regenerated fibers, such as wool keratin fiber and cellulose fiber, have attracted extensive attention. However, the insufficient mechanical performance still hinders their yarn manufacturing capability and further large‐scale applications. Herein, an ultra‐strong and ultra‐tough regenerated wool keratin fiber by regulating keratin conformation with high‐quality small‐size graphene (HQSGr) and mechanical training treatment (M‐HQSGr‐RWKF) is fabricated. With the assistance of mechanical training, a small addition of HQSGr (0.1 wt.%) remarkably augments the secondary structure transition from α‐helix to β‐sheet of the keratin, which delivers a tensile strength of 215.4 ± 5.2 MPa, surpassing all reported natural wool and regenerated wool or even poultry fibers. Benefiting from the excellent mechanical strength, wet‐state toughness (158.9 MJ m−3), and recoverable strain (205.0%), M‐HQSGr‐RWKF has been demonstrated as a biocompatible artificial muscle to drive the biomimetic motion, which manifests ultrahigh actuation strain greater than 100.0% and stress of 16.7 MPa. The derived ultra‐strong and ultra‐tough keratin fiber opens a new avenue for developing smart fiber from biomass resources.

Tailoring Localized Electrolyte via a Dual-Functional Protein Membrane toward Stable Zn Anodes

“…As for the C α region, the main peak of the raw ESM is located near 54.0 ppm, which is downshifted as compared to that of boiled ESM, verifying the structural transformation (Figure S7c). This is also evidenced by the Raman spectra shown in Figure S8. − …”

Innovations in spider silk‐inspired artificial gel fibers: Methods, properties, strengthening, functionality, and challenges

“…Moreover, owing to their exceptional biological compatibility and enabling applications in the field of biomedicine, biomass‐derived fibers like keratinized wool fiber have garnered significant attention. For example, Zhang et al 87 . demonstrated the wet‐spun keratin fiber from regenerated wool (RWKF) with exceptional toughness by manipulating the keratin alignment using high‐quality insignificant‐size graphene (HQSGr) and subjecting it to mechanical training procedure (Figure 2F–H).…”

“…Gel fibers derived from bulk gel exhibit remarkable mechanical properties and have promising applications in the domains of biomedicine and bioengineering as artificial muscles 87,305–307 . Previous studies have investigated various types of LCE fibers for actuation purposes, such as innervated LCE actuators (2000 µm, actuation strain 25% s −1 , power density 21 W kg −1 ), 308 single fiber actuators with reversible percolation inspired by human muscle (203 µm, 100% s −1 , 293 W kg −1 ), 309 aligned LCE fibers prepared by continuous spinning via a 3D printer setup (40 µm 50% s −1 , 200 W kg −1 ), 29 artificial cardiac muscles based on LCE fibers (50 µm, 40% s −1 , 186 W kg −1 ), 310 LCE microfiber actuators fabricated by electrospun (10 µm, 350% s −1 , 400 W kg −1 ), 311 light‐driven fiber actuators with core–shell structure based on CNTs/LCE (350 µm, 14.4% s −1 , 24.28 W kg −1 ), 312 composite LCE CNT filament actuators for locomotion and shaping of soft robots (200 µm 4.1% s −1 3.8 W kg −1 ), 313 and high‐performance LCE fibers for electrothermal‐driven artificial muscles (100 µm, 284% s −1 , 367 W kg −1 ) 314 .…”