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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 28: Poster: Biopolymers and Biomaterials
CPP 28.4: Poster
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 17:30–19:00, Poster C
Silkworm Silk - A High Pressure SAXS/WAXS Study — •Christina Krywka1, Igor Krasnov1, Florian Kunze1, and Martin Müller2 — 1Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Leibnizstraße 19, D-24098 Kiel — 2GKSS Forschungszentrum Geesthacht, Max-Planck-Straße 1, D-21502 Geesthacht
Due to the remarkable mechanical properties of natural silks numerous potential applications exist. However, the nanoscopic structure is still a matter of debate and none of the synthetic silk fibers exhibit mechanical properties comparable to those of the bio-spun fibers.
Degummed silkworm silk (Bombyx Mori) is a pure protein fiber consisting only of fibroin. The fiber is a semicrystalline nanocomposite with beta-sheet nanocrystals embedded in a soft amorphous matrix. There is indication for a self-modulation of the fibroin within the silk fiber, leading to a phase-separation between those fibroin residues that can form crystallites and those that can’t. If this bimodal nanostructure is a result of a self-arrangement of the different domains of the fibroin molecule, this separation should be able to be disrupted by denaturating conditions, such as high pressure or strong denaturants.
Small and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS, resp.) methods with in situ high hydrostatic pressure (up to 5 kbar) were employed to investigate the impact of strong denaturants (urea) and undirected stress (pressure) on the crystalline and nanoscopic fiber structure and to gain a clearer view onto the mesoscopic structure of silk fibroin.