Ultra strong pyroprotein fibres with long-range ordering

Se Youn Cho, Young Soo Yun, Dawon Jang, Jun Woo Jeon, Byung Hoon Kim, Sungho Lee and Hyoung-Joon Jin ()
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Se Youn Cho: Inha University
Young Soo Yun: Kangwon National University
Dawon Jang: Korea Institute of Science and Technology
Jun Woo Jeon: Incheon National University
Byung Hoon Kim: Incheon National University
Sungho Lee: Korea Institute of Science and Technology
Hyoung-Joon Jin: Inha University

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Silks are protein-based natural structured materials with an unusual combination of high strength and elongation. Their unique microstructural features composed of hard β-sheet crystals aligned within a soft amorphous region lead to the robust properties of silks. Herein we report a large enhancement in the intrinsic properties of silk through the transformation of the basic building blocks into a poly-hexagonal carbon structure by a simple heat treatment with axial stretching. The carbon clusters originating from the β-sheet retain the preferred orientation along the fibre axis, resulting in a long-range-ordered graphitic structure by increasing heat-treatment temperatures and leading improvements in mechanical properties with a maximum strength and modulus up to ∼2.6 and ∼470 GPa, respectively, almost four and thirty times surpassing those of raw silk. Moreover, the formation of sp 2 carbon configurations induce a significant change in the electrical properties (e.g. an electrical conductivity up to 4.37 × 103 S cm−1).

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00132-3

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