Tuning water-responsiveness with silk-silica nanoparticle composites

Bombyx ( B. ) mori silk's water-responsive actuation correlates to its high β-sheet crystallinity. In this research, we demonstrated that stiff silica nanoparticles can mimic the role of dispersed β-sheet nanocrystals and dramatically increase amorphous silk's water-responsive actuation en...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soft matter 2021-09, Vol.17 (34), p.7817-7821
Main Authors: Jung, Yeojin, Sharifi Golru, Samaneh, Li, Tai-De, Biddinger, Elizabeth J, Tu, Raymond S, Chen, Xi
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Summary:Bombyx ( B. ) mori silk's water-responsive actuation correlates to its high β-sheet crystallinity. In this research, we demonstrated that stiff silica nanoparticles can mimic the role of dispersed β-sheet nanocrystals and dramatically increase amorphous silk's water-responsive actuation energy density to ∼700 kJ m −3 . Silica nanoparticles mimic β-sheet nanocrystals and increase Bombyx mori silk's water-responsive actuation energy.
ISSN:1744-683X
1744-6848
DOI:10.1039/d1sm00794g