Feeding Alginate-Coated Liquid Metal Nanodroplets to Silkworms for Highly Stretchable Silk Fibers.

ABSTRACT: In this study, we fed the larval of Bombyx mori silkworms with nanodroplets of liquid metal (LM) coated with microgels of marine polysaccharides to obtain stretchable silk. Alginate-coated liquid metal nanodroplets (LM@NaAlg) were prepared with significant chemical stability and biocompatibility. This study demonstrates how the fed LM@NaAlg acts on the as-spun silk fiber. We also conducted a series of characterizations and steered molecular dynamics simulations, which showed that the LM@NaAlg additions impede the conformation transition of silk fibroins from the random coil and α-helix to the β-sheet by the formation of hydrogen bonds between LM@NaAlg and the silk fibroins, thus enhancing the elongation at the breakpoints in addition to the tensile properties. The intrinsically highly stre

SUBMITTER: Gao ZF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9000898 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature