Spider Silk Inspired Processing of Liquid Crystalline Complex Coacervates.

ABSTRACT: Spider silk spinning begins with coacervation into a dense protein phase that organizes into liquid crystalline domains. Changes in salt concentration, together with shear forces, then direct the alignment needed to form highly ordered fibers. Inspired by this process, we developed a fully synthetic system of liquid crystalline complex coacervates designed to replicate the hierarchical organization and alignment mechanisms of spider silk, focusing on processing pathways. We show that salt concentration (tetrabutylammonium bromide, TBAB) governs the balance between isotropic and liquid crystalline states, with coacervation suppressed above 0.5 M, smectic order stabilized at ≤0.2 M, and isotropic chain networks prevailing at intermediate concentrations. Crucially, the degree of shear alignme

SUBMITTER: Liu X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12825376 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature