Engineers Create Programmable Silk-Based Materials with Embedded, Pre-Designed Functions
Using a water-based fabrication method based on protein self-assembly, the researchers generated three-dimensional bulk materials out of silk fibroin, the protein that gives silk its durability. Then they manipulated the bulk materials with water-soluble molecules to create multiple solid forms, from the nano- to the micro-scale, that have embedded, pre-designed functions.
For example, the researchers created a surgical pin that changes color as it nears its mechanical limits and is about to fail, functional screws that can be heated on demand in response to infrared light, and a biocompatible component that enables the sustained release of bioactive agents, such as enzymes.A silk fibroin pin changes color from blue to red when the force applied reaches the material’s yield point
Credit: Silklab, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Tufts University
Silk’s unique crystalline structure makes it one of nature’s toughest materials. Fibroin, an insoluble protein found in silk, has a remarkable ability to protect other materials while being fully biocompatible and biodegradable.
A silk fibroin screw fabricated with golden nanorods can be heated to 160 C when exposed to infrared light.
Credit: Silklab, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Tufts University
Credit: Silklab, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Tufts University
Marelli, Omenetto and Kaplan are listed as inventors in a patent application based on the technology described in the manuscript.
The work was supported by the Office of Naval Research (N00014-13-1-0596).
Benedetto Marelli, Nereus Patel, Thomas Duggan, Giovanni Perotto, Elijah Shirman, David L. Kaplan, and Fiorenzo G. Omenetto, “Directed self-assembly of silk fibroin into bulk materials: Programming function into mechanical forms from the nano- to macroscale,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online Dec. 26. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1612063114.
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Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2016/12/engineers-create-programmable-silk.html
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