TY - JOUR
T1 - Hydrothermal effect on mechanical properties of Nephila pilipes spidroin
AU - Wu, Hsuan Chen
AU - Pandey, Aditi
AU - Chang, Liang Yu
AU - Hsu, Chieh Yun
AU - Yang, Thomas Chung Kuang
AU - Tso, I. Min
AU - Sheu, Hwo Shuenn
AU - Yang, Jen Chang
N1 - Funding Information:
Author Contributions：Conceptualization, J.-C.Y., H.-C.W., I.-M.T., H.-S.S., and T.C.-K.Y.; methodology, J.-C.Y., HH.-.C-C.W.W.,.,LL.-.Y-Y.C.C.,.a,nadndC .C-Y.-.YH..H; v.;avliadlaidtiaotnio,nJ.,-CJ.-.CY..Yan. danHd.-HC.-WC..;Wd.r;adftrapfrtepraerpatairoantiaonndaenditeindgit,inJ.g-C, J.Y.-.C, H.Y..-,CH.W.-C.,.aWnd., A.P.; visualization, J.-C.Y., H.-C.W., and A.P.; supervision, J.-C.Y.; project administration, J.-C.Y.; funding acquisition, and A.P.; visualization, J.-C.Y., H.-C.W., and A.P.; supervision, J.-C.Y.; project administration, J.-C.Y.; funding J.-C.Y., H.-C.W., and T.C.-K.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. acquisition, J.-C.Y., H.-C.W., and T.C.-K.Y. Funding: This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (grant number, MOSTFunding108-2218-E-038-002-,：This work was supMOSTported106-2320-B-002-043-MY3).by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (grant number, MOST 108-2218-E-038-002-, MOST 106-2320-B-002-043-MY3). Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2020/5/1
Y1 - 2020/5/1
N2 - The superlative mechanical properties of spider silk and its conspicuous variations have instigated significant interest over the past few years. However, current attempts to synthetically spin spider silk fibers often yield an inferior physical performance, owing to the improper molecular interactions of silk proteins. Considering this, herein, a post-treatment process to reorganize molecular structures and improve the physical strength of spider silk is reported. The major ampullate dragline silk from Nephila pilipes with a high β-sheet content and an adequate tensile strength was utilized as the study material, while that from Cyrtophora moluccensis was regarded as a reference. Our results indicated that the hydrothermal post-treatment (50-70 °C) of natural spider silk could effectively induce the alternation of secondary structures (random coil to β-sheet) and increase the overall tensile strength of the silk. Such advantageous post-treatment strategy when applied to regenerated spider silk also leads to an increment in the strength by ~2.5-3.0 folds, recapitulating ~90% of the strength of native spider silk. Overall, this study provides a facile and effective post-spinning means for enhancing the molecular structures and mechanical properties of as-spun silk threads, both natural and regenerated.
AB - The superlative mechanical properties of spider silk and its conspicuous variations have instigated significant interest over the past few years. However, current attempts to synthetically spin spider silk fibers often yield an inferior physical performance, owing to the improper molecular interactions of silk proteins. Considering this, herein, a post-treatment process to reorganize molecular structures and improve the physical strength of spider silk is reported. The major ampullate dragline silk from Nephila pilipes with a high β-sheet content and an adequate tensile strength was utilized as the study material, while that from Cyrtophora moluccensis was regarded as a reference. Our results indicated that the hydrothermal post-treatment (50-70 °C) of natural spider silk could effectively induce the alternation of secondary structures (random coil to β-sheet) and increase the overall tensile strength of the silk. Such advantageous post-treatment strategy when applied to regenerated spider silk also leads to an increment in the strength by ~2.5-3.0 folds, recapitulating ~90% of the strength of native spider silk. Overall, this study provides a facile and effective post-spinning means for enhancing the molecular structures and mechanical properties of as-spun silk threads, both natural and regenerated.
KW - Hydrothermal treatment
KW - Nephila pilipes
KW - Secondary structures
KW - Spider silk
KW - Strength
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U2 - 10.3390/POLYM12051013
DO - 10.3390/POLYM12051013
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85085251718
SN - 2073-4360
VL - 12
JO - Polymers
JF - Polymers
IS - 5
M1 - 1013
ER -