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Zorman M, Phillips C, Shi C, Zhang S, De Yoreo J, Pfaendtner J. Thermodynamic Analysis of Silk Fibroin-Graphite Hybrid Materials and Their Morphology. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:2371-2380. [PMID: 38421229 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c08147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Silk fibroin (SF) is a β-sheet-rich protein that is responsible for the remarkable tensile strength of silk. In addition to its mechanical properties, SF is biocompatible and biodegradable, making it an attractive candidate for use in biotic/abiotic hybrid materials. A pairing of particular interest is the use of SF with graphene-based nanomaterials (GBNs). The properties of this interface drive the formation of well-ordered nanostructures and can improve the electronic properties of the resulting hybrid. It was previously demonstrated that SF can form lamellar nanostructures in the presence of graphite; however, the equilibrium morphology and associated driving interactions are not fully understood. In this study, we characterize these interactions between SF and SF lamellar with graphite using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and umbrella sampling (US). We find that SF lamellar nanostructures have strong orientational and spatial preferences on graphite that are driven by the hydrophobic effect, destabilizing solvent-protein interactions and stabilizing protein-protein and protein-graphite interactions. Finally, we show how careful consideration of these underlying interactions can be applied to rationally modify the nanostructure morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlo Zorman
- Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Christian Phillips
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Chenyang Shi
- Physical Sciences DivisionPacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Shuai Zhang
- Physical Sciences DivisionPacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - James De Yoreo
- Physical Sciences DivisionPacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Jim Pfaendtner
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
- Department of Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, United States
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Wang Y, Wu Z, Zhou L, Chen X, Guan J, Shao Z. Peculiar Tensile and Fracture Behaviors of Natural Silk Fiber in the Presence of an Artificial Notch. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yu Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zihong Wu
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Innovation Center of Biomedical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
| | - Liang Zhou
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xin Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China
| | - Juan Guan
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Innovation Center of Biomedical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zhengzhong Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China
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Jung Y, Sharifi Golru S, Li TD, Biddinger EJ, Tu RS, Chen X. Tuning water-responsiveness with Bombyx mori silk-silica nanoparticle composites. SOFT MATTER 2021; 17:7817-7821. [PMID: 34612350 DOI: 10.1039/d1sm00794g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yeojin Jung
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA.
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