Correlation between processing conditions,microstructure and mechanical behavior in regenerated silkworm silk fibers |
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| Authors: | Gustavo R Plaza Paola Corsini Enrico Marsano José Pérez‐Rigueiro Manuel Elices Christian Riekel Charlotte Vendrely Gustavo V Guinea |
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| Institution: | 1. Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales, ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain;2. Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università di Genova, Via Dodecaneso Genova 31‐16146, Italy;3. European Synchroton Radiation Facility, B.P. 220, F‐38043, Grenoble Cedex, France |
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| Abstract: | Regenerated silkworm fibers spun through a wet‐spinning process followed by an immersion postspinning drawing step show a work to fracture comparable with that of natural silkworm silk fibers in a wide range of spinning conditions. The mechanical behavior and microstructure of these high performance fibers have been characterized, and compared with those fibers produced through conventional spinning conditions. The comparison reveals that both sets of fibers share a common semicrystalline microstructure, but significant differences are apparent in the amorphous region. Besides, high performance fibers show a ground state and the possibility of tuning their tensile behavior. These properties are characteristic of spider silk and not of natural silkworm silk, despite both regenerated and natural silkworm silk share a common composition different from that of spider silk. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012 |
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| Keywords: | biofibers biomimetic silk |
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