Thermoplastic moulding of regenerated silk

Chengchen Guo; Chunmei Li; Hiep V Vu; Philip Hanna; Aron Lechtig; Yimin Qiu; Xuan Mu; Shengjie Ling; Ara Nazarian; Samuel J Lin; David L Kaplan

doi:10.1038/s41563-019-0560-8

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Thermoplastic moulding of regenerated silk

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Thermoplastic moulding of regenerated silk

Chengchen Guo, Chunmei Li, Hiep V Vu, Philip Hanna, Aron Lechtig, Yimin Qiu, Xuan Mu, Shengjie Ling, Ara Nazarian, Samuel J Lin, …

Nature materials, Vol.19(1), pp.102-108

01/2020

DOI: 10.1038/s41563-019-0560-8

PMCID: PMC6986341

PMID: 31844276

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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0560-8View

Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Early insights into the unique structure and properties of native silk suggested that β-sheet nanocrystallites in silk would degrade prior to melting when subjected to thermal processing. Since then, canonical approaches for fabricating silk-based materials typically involve solution-derived processing methods, which have inherent limitations with respect to silk protein solubility and stability in solution, and time and cost efficiency. Here we report a thermal processing method for the direct solid-state moulding of regenerated silk into bulk 'parts' or devices with tunable mechanical properties. At elevated temperature and pressure, regenerated amorphous silk nanomaterials with ultralow β-sheet content undergo thermal fusion via molecular rearrangement and self-assembly assisted by bound water to form a robust bulk material that retains biocompatibility, degradability and machinability. This technique reverses presumptions about the limitations of direct thermal processing of silk into a wide range of new material formats and composite materials with tailored properties and functionalities.

Animals

Biocompatible Materials - chemistry

Bombyx

Compressive Strength

Female

Fibroins - chemistry

Hot Temperature

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Nanostructures - chemistry

Protein Structure, Secondary

Rats

Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Silk - chemistry

Solubility

Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared

Stress, Mechanical

Tensile Strength

Water - chemistry

X-Ray Microtomography

Details

Title: Subtitle: Thermoplastic moulding of regenerated silk
Creators: Chengchen Guo - Tufts University
Chunmei Li - Tufts University
Hiep V Vu - Tufts University
Philip Hanna - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Aron Lechtig - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Yimin Qiu - Tufts University
Xuan Mu - Tufts University
Shengjie Ling - ShanghaiTech University
Ara Nazarian - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Samuel J Lin - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
David L Kaplan - Tufts University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Nature materials, Vol.19(1), pp.102-108
DOI: 10.1038/s41563-019-0560-8
PMID: 31844276
PMCID: PMC6986341
NLM abbreviation: Nat Mater
ISSN: 1476-1122
eISSN: 1476-4660
Grant note: P41 GM118217 / NIGMS NIH HHS R01 DE016525 / NIDCR NIH HHS P41 EB027062 / NIBIB NIH HHS R01 AR068048 / NIAMS NIH HHS P41 EB002520 / NIBIB NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 01/2020
Academic Unit: Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering
Record Identifier: 9984277458502771

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