TY - JOUR
T1 - Chemical synthesis of silk-mimetic polymers
AU - Sarkar, Amrita
AU - Connor, Alexander J.
AU - Koffas, Mattheos
AU - Zha, R. Helen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Silk is a naturally occurring high-performance material that can surpass man-made polymers in toughness and strength. The remarkable mechanical properties of silk result from the primary sequence of silk fibroin, which bears semblance to a linear segmented copolymer with alternating rigid ("crystalline") and flexible ("amorphous") blocks. Silk-mimetic polymers are therefore of great emerging interest, as they can potentially exhibit the advantageous features of natural silk while possessing synthetic flexibility as well as non-natural compositions. This review describes the relationships between primary sequence and material properties in natural silk fibroin and furthermore discusses chemical approaches towards the synthesis of silk-mimetic polymers. In particular, step-growth polymerization, controlled radical polymerization, and copolymerization with naturally derived silk fibroin are presented as strategies for synthesizing silk-mimetic polymers with varying molecular weights and degrees of sequence control. Strategies for improving macromolecular solubility during polymerization are also highlighted. Lastly, the relationships between synthetic approach, supramolecular structure, and bulk material properties are explored in this review, with the aim of providing an informative perspective on the challenges facing chemical synthesis of silk-mimetic polymers with desirable properties.
AB - Silk is a naturally occurring high-performance material that can surpass man-made polymers in toughness and strength. The remarkable mechanical properties of silk result from the primary sequence of silk fibroin, which bears semblance to a linear segmented copolymer with alternating rigid ("crystalline") and flexible ("amorphous") blocks. Silk-mimetic polymers are therefore of great emerging interest, as they can potentially exhibit the advantageous features of natural silk while possessing synthetic flexibility as well as non-natural compositions. This review describes the relationships between primary sequence and material properties in natural silk fibroin and furthermore discusses chemical approaches towards the synthesis of silk-mimetic polymers. In particular, step-growth polymerization, controlled radical polymerization, and copolymerization with naturally derived silk fibroin are presented as strategies for synthesizing silk-mimetic polymers with varying molecular weights and degrees of sequence control. Strategies for improving macromolecular solubility during polymerization are also highlighted. Lastly, the relationships between synthetic approach, supramolecular structure, and bulk material properties are explored in this review, with the aim of providing an informative perspective on the challenges facing chemical synthesis of silk-mimetic polymers with desirable properties.
KW - Bioinspired materials
KW - Macromolecular self-assembly
KW - Silk-mimetic polymers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079602204&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/MA12244086
DO - 10.3390/MA12244086
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85079602204
SN - 1996-1944
VL - 12
JO - Materials
JF - Materials
IS - 24
M1 - 4086
ER -