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Superelastic and multifunctional fibroin aerogels from multiscale silk micro-nanofibrils exfoliated via deep eutectic solvent.
- Source :
-
International Journal of Biological Macromolecules . Jan2023, Vol. 224, p1412-1422. 11p. - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Superelastic silk fibroin (SF)-based aerogels can be used as multifunctional substrates, exhibiting a promising prospect in air filtration, thermal insulation, and biomedical materials. However, fabrication of the superelastic pure SF aerogels without adding synthetic polymers remains challenging. Here, the SF micro-nano fibrils (SMNFs) that preserved mesostructures are extracted from SF fibers as building blocks of aerogels by a controllable deep eutectic solvent liquid exfoliation technique. SMNFs can assemble into multiscale fibril networks during the freeze-inducing process, resulting in all-natural SMNF aerogels (SMNFAs) with hierarchical cellular architectures after lyophilization. Benefiting from these structural features, the SMNFAs demonstrate desirable properties including ultra-low density (as low as 4.71 mg/cm3) and superelasticity (over 85 % stress retention after 100 compression cycles at 60 % strain). Furthermore, the potential applications of superelastic SMNFAs in air purification and thermal insulation are investigated to exhibit their functionality, mechanical elasticity, and structural stability. This work provides a reliable approach for the fabrication of highly elastic SF aerogels and endows application prospects in air purification and thermal insulation opportunities. [Display omitted] • Multiscale SMNFs are extract from SF fibers by DES liquid exfoliation strategy to construct superelastic aerogel. • The assembled SMNF aerogels demonstrate excellent superelastic performance. • The SMNF aerogel exhibit distinctive air filtration and thermal insulation properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 01418130
- Volume :
- 224
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 160847499
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.10.228