Post-spin Stretch Improves Mechanical Properties, Reduces Necking, and Reverts Effects of Aging in Biomimetic Artificial Spider Silk FibersShow others and affiliations
2024 (English)In: ACS Applied Polymer Materials, E-ISSN 2637-6105, Vol. 6, no 23, p. 14342-14350Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Recent biotechnological advancements in protein production and development of biomimetic spinning procedures make artificial spider silk a promising alternative to petroleum-based fibers. To enhance the competitiveness of artificial silk in terms of mechanical properties, refining the spinning techniques is imperative. One potential strategy involves the integration of post-spin stretching, known to improve fiber strength and stiffness while potentially offering additional advantages. Here, we demonstrate that post-spin stretching not only enhances the mechanical properties of artificial silk fibers but also restores a higher and more uniform alignment of the protein chains, leading to a higher fiber toughness. Additionally, fiber properties may be reduced by processes, such as aging, that cause increased network entropy. Post-spin stretching was found to partially restore the initial properties of fibers exposed aging. Finally, we propose to use the degree of necking as a simple measure of fiber quality in the development of spinning procedures for biobased fibers.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Chemical Society , 2024. Vol. 6, no 23, p. 14342-14350
Keywords [en]
Biomimetic processes; Petroleum refining; Spinning (fibers); Bio-based; Biobased fiber; Biotechnological advancements; Effect of ageing; Mechanical; Polymeric fibers; Property; Protein fibers; Spider silk fibers; Wet-spinning; Silk
National Category
Biological Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-76281DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.4c02192Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85209944857OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-76281DiVA, id: diva2:1932792
Note
This work was supported by the European Research Council(ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 researchand innovation program (grant agreement No 815357), theCenter for Innovative Medicine (CIMED) at KarolinskaInstitutet and Stockholm City Council, Karolinska InstitutetSFO Regen (FOR 4−1364/2019), FORMAS (2019−00427),Olle Engkvist stiftelse (207−0375) and the Swedish ResearchCouncil (2019−01257). B.S. was supported by the SwedishResearch Council for Sustainable Development, FORMAS(grant number 2023−00871). A.R. and G.G. are supported byWenner-Gren stiftelse (UPD2021−0047). G.G. is supportedby the project “EPASS” under the HORIZON TMA MSCAPostdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships (project number 101103616).
2025-01-292025-01-292025-09-23Bibliographically approved