| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2024 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Biological Materials Science
|
| Presentation Title |
Squid-inspired Protein Networks as Dynamic Self-healing Materials |
| Author(s) |
Abdon Pena-Francesch |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Abdon Pena-Francesch |
| Abstract Scope |
Squids have developed predatory teethed structures in their suction cups that are composed of structural proteins. Unlike other hard tissue in cephalopods, these biological materials are stabilized by β-sheet nanocrystalline structures that give rise to high-strength without mineralization. This talk will introduce squid-inspired polypeptides with a repetitive diblock design (alanine-rich and glycine-rich blocks) that self-assemble into supramolecular networks, where β-sheet nanocrystals act as physical crosslinks and regulate the network structure and its physical properties. By controlling their dynamic assembly, we demonstrate self-healing networks with healing strength and kinetics surpassing those typically found in other natural and synthetic soft polymers. This family of proteins and their biosynthetic derivatives open new opportunities in bioinspired design for adaptive functional materials for applications in soft robotics, sensing, and wearable technology. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Biomaterials, Polymers, Mechanical Properties |