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Wu S, Liu Z, Gong C, Li W, Xu S, Wen R, Feng W, Qiu Z, Yan Y. Spider-silk-inspired strong and tough hydrogel fibers with anti-freezing and water retention properties. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4441. [PMID: 38789409 PMCID: PMC11126733 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48745-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Ideal hydrogel fibers with high toughness and environmental tolerance are indispensable for their long-term application in flexible electronics as actuating and sensing elements. However, current hydrogel fibers exhibit poor mechanical properties and environmental instability due to their intrinsically weak molecular (chain) interactions. Inspired by the multilevel adjustment of spider silk network structure by ions, bionic hydrogel fibers with elaborated ionic crosslinking and crystalline domains are constructed. Bionic hydrogel fibers show a toughness of 162.25 ± 21.99 megajoules per cubic meter, comparable to that of spider silks. The demonstrated bionic structural engineering strategy can be generalized to other polymers and inorganic salts for fabricating hydrogel fibers with broadly tunable mechanical properties. In addition, the introduction of inorganic salt/glycerol/water ternary solvent during constructing bionic structures endows hydrogel fibers with anti-freezing, water retention, and self-regeneration properties. This work provides ideas to fabricate hydrogel fibers with high mechanical properties and stability for flexible electronics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaoji Wu
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, PR China
| | - Zhao Liu
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, PR China
| | - Caihong Gong
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, PR China
| | - Wanjiang Li
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, PR China
| | - Sijia Xu
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, PR China
| | - Rui Wen
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, PR China
| | - Wen Feng
- Guangdong Medical Products Administration Key Laboratory for Quality Research and Evaluation of Medical Textile Products, Guangzhou, 511447, PR China.
| | - Zhiming Qiu
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, PR China
| | - Yurong Yan
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, PR China.
- Key Lab of Guangdong High Property & Functional Polymer Materials, Guangzhou, 510640, PR China.
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He W, Wang M, Mei G, Liu S, Khan AQ, Li C, Feng D, Su Z, Bao L, Wang G, Liu E, Zhu Y, Bai J, Zhu M, Zhou X, Liu Z. Establishing superfine nanofibrils for robust polyelectrolyte artificial spider silk and powerful artificial muscles. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3485. [PMID: 38664427 PMCID: PMC11045855 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47796-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Spider silk exhibits an excellent combination of high strength and toughness, which originates from the hierarchical self-assembled structure of spidroin during fiber spinning. In this work, superfine nanofibrils are established in polyelectrolyte artificial spider silk by optimizing the flexibility of polymer chains, which exhibits combination of breaking strength and toughness ranging from 1.83 GPa and 238 MJ m-3 to 0.53 GPa and 700 MJ m-3, respectively. This is achieved by introducing ions to control the dissociation of polymer chains and evaporation-induced self-assembly under external stress. In addition, the artificial spider silk possesses thermally-driven supercontraction ability. This work provides inspiration for the design of high-performance fiber materials.
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Grants
- This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grants Nos. 2022YFB3807103, 2022YFA1203304, and 2019YFE0119600, Z.F.L.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 52350120, 52090034, 52225306, 51973093, and 51773094, Z.F.L.), Frontiers Science Center for Table Organic Matter, Nankai University (grant number 63181206. Z.F.L.), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant 63171219. Z.F.L.), Lingyu Grant (2021-JCJQ-JJ-1064, Z.L.F.).
- the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 22371300, X.Z.)
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenqian He
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Meilin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Guangkai Mei
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Shiyong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Abdul Qadeer Khan
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Chao Li
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Danyang Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Zihao Su
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Lili Bao
- Department of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 211198, China
| | - Ge Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Enzhao Liu
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Ionic-Molecular Function of Cardiovascular disease, Department of Cardiology, Tianjin Institute of Cardiology, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300211, China
| | - Yutian Zhu
- College of Materials, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, China
| | - Jie Bai
- Chemical Engineering College, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China
| | - Meifang Zhu
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China.
| | - Xiang Zhou
- Department of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 211198, China.
| | - Zunfeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
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Zhao C, Liu G, Lin Y, Li X, Meng N, Wang X, Fu S, Yu J, Ding B. Diphylleia Grayi-Inspired Intelligent Temperature-Responsive Transparent Nanofiber Membranes. NANO-MICRO LETTERS 2024; 16:65. [PMID: 38175378 PMCID: PMC10766919 DOI: 10.1007/s40820-023-01279-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Nanofiber membranes (NFMs) have become attractive candidates for next-generation flexible transparent materials due to their exceptional flexibility and breathability. However, improving the transmittance of NFMs is a great challenge due to the enormous reflection and incredibly poor transmission generated by the nanofiber-air interface. In this research, we report a general strategy for the preparation of flexible temperature-responsive transparent (TRT) membranes, which achieves a rapid transformation of NFMs from opaque to highly transparent under a narrow temperature window. In this process, the phase change material eicosane is coated on the surface of the polyurethane nanofibers by electrospray technology. When the temperature rises to 37 °C, eicosane rapidly completes the phase transition and establishes the light transmission path between the nanofibers, preventing light loss from reflection at the nanofiber-air interface. The resulting TRT membrane exhibits high transmittance (> 90%), and fast response (5 s). This study achieves the first TRT transition of NFMs, offering a general strategy for building highly transparent nanofiber materials, shaping the future of next-generation intelligent temperature monitoring, anti-counterfeiting measures, and other high-performance devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cengceng Zhao
- Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center of Advanced Textiles, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People's Republic of China
| | - Gaohui Liu
- Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center of Advanced Textiles, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanyan Lin
- Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center of Advanced Textiles, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People's Republic of China
| | - Xueqin Li
- Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center of Advanced Textiles, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People's Republic of China
| | - Na Meng
- Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center of Advanced Textiles, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People's Republic of China
| | - Xianfeng Wang
- Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center of Advanced Textiles, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People's Republic of China.
| | - Shaoju Fu
- Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center of Advanced Textiles, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jianyong Yu
- Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center of Advanced Textiles, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People's Republic of China
| | - Bin Ding
- Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center of Advanced Textiles, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, People's Republic of China.
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