Varying surface hydrophobicities of coatings made of recombinant spider silk proteins

Title data

Wohlrab, Stefanie ; Spieß, Kristina ; Scheibel, Thomas:
Varying surface hydrophobicities of coatings made of recombinant spider silk proteins.
In: Journal of Materials Chemistry. Vol. 22 (2012) Issue 41 . - pp. 22050-22054.
ISSN 1364-5501
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/c2jm35075k

Project information

Abstract in another language

The engineered spider silk protein eADF4(C16) reveals similarities to amphiphilic block copolymers.
Drop cast of protein solutions on different hydrophobic as well as hydrophilic templates out of
different starting solvents (hexafluoroisopropanol, formic acid and aqueous buffers) generated silk
films varying in structure and surface properties. Here, the underlying secondary structure of the
proteins, the mechanical integrity at increased temperatures, homogeneity and surface topography of
silk films, as well as the wettability were investigated in detail. Interestingly, the used templates had
impact on microphase separation of the silk molecules as seen by the content of b-sheet structures; as
well as on silk film surface hydrophobicities.