Journal
SOFT MATTER
Volume 12, Issue 27, Pages 5926-5936Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/c6sm00019c
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Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [51503009]
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymer (Fudan University) [K2016-05]
- Beihang University
- US Air Force Office of Scientific Research [FA9550-12-1-0294]
- European Research Council [SP2-GA-2008-233409]
- Leverhulme Trust [F/08705/D]
- Jesus College, Oxford
- EPSRC [EP/K005693/1]
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/K005693/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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Silks are a family of semi-crystalline structural materials, spun naturally by insects, spiders and even crustaceans. Compared to the characteristic beta-sheet crystalline structure in silks, the non-crystalline structure and its composition deserves more attention as it is equally critical to the filaments' high toughness and strength. Here we further unravel the structure-property relationship in silks using Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA). This technique allows us to examine the most important structural relaxation event of the disordered structure the disordered structure, the glass transition (GT), in native silk fibres of the lepidopteran Bombyx mori and Antheraea pernyi and the spider Nephila edulis. The measured glass transition temperature T-g, loss tangent tan delta and dynamic storage modulus are quantitatively modelled based on Group Interaction Modelling (GIM). The variability'' issue in native silks can be conveniently explained by the different degrees of structural disorder as revealed by DMTA. The new insights will facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the structure-property relations for a wide range of biopolymers.
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