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Processing Natural and Reconstituted Silk Solutions Under Equilibrium and Non-Equilibrium Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Christopher Viney ,
Anne E. Huber ,
Dwayne L. Dunaway ,
Steven T. Case  and
David L. Kaplan
Christopher Viney
Affiliation:
Molecular Bioengineering Program, Center for Bioengineering WD-12, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Anne E. Huber
Affiliation:
Molecular Bioengineering Program, Center for Bioengineering WD-12, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Dwayne L. Dunaway
Affiliation:
Molecular Bioengineering Program, Center for Bioengineering WD-12, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Steven T. Case
Affiliation:
Dept. of Biochemistry, Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39216, USA
David L. Kaplan
Affiliation:
US Army Research, Development & Engineering Center, Natick, MA 01760, USA
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Abstract

A variety of natural silk secretions (from spiders, silkworms and aquatic insect larvae), and also reconstituted silk solutions, are able to form a nematic liquid crystalline phase. The anisotropic structures that self-assemble in this phase are formed from the isotropic phase by aggregation of molecules, rather than by individual molecules undergoing a conformational change to a rod-like form. This enables the molecules to retain their solubility in water while, simultaneously, the viscosity of the solution is reduced. The liquid crystalline phase is stable under a wide range of equilibrium conditions, but its ability to form is sensitive to the rate at which the initially isotropic solution is allowed to dry. The kinetics of phase transitions exhibited by solutions of silk proteins must be taken into account if solutions of silk fibroin are to be successfully processed in vitro.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 292: Symposium S – Biomolecular Materials , 1992 , 211
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

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