New possibilities opened for synthesis of artificial bio-fib
(July 2, 2015) A
research team led by Professor Seunghwa Ryu of the Department of Mechanical
Engineering has succeeded in the development of bioinspired silk fibers based
on computational modeling.
Spider silks are as strong as steel and absorb as much
energy as Kevlar fibers. However, mass production is not feasible due to the
wild nature of spiders. Simulations at the atomic level are insufficient in
reproducing interactions of multiple spider silks, making it more difficult to
design artificial spider silks.
The team used computational simulations to show that
high-strength fibers can be formed when molecules are aligned in one direction
with a spinning process that emits protein-dissolved solutions through thin
tubes. They observed that spider silks of greater strength were produced for
longer chain lengths having adequate hydrophobic/hydrophilic block ratios.
After synthesizing reassembled spider proteins similar to
those in actual spider silks, the team succeeded in producing artificial spider
silks through a simple spinning process.
Using predictive modeling, Professor Ryu’s team identified
various proteins and utilized this information in the design and production of
bioinspired spider silks. The study has opened new possibilities for the
synthesis of artificial bio-fibers.
Professor Ryu said, "In the future, it will be possible
to create bio-fibers as strong as spider silks. Given its high
biocompatibility, this new material is expected to have wide applications in
biomedical fields.”
This study, jointly conducted by MIT, Florida State
University, and Tufts University, was published in the online version of Nature
Communications on May 28.