Spinning a Good Yarn: The Importance of Processing for Silk Protein Performance
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Spinning a Good Yarn: The Importance of Processing for Silk Protein Performance
Wed, 23/03/2016 - 13:00 to 14:00
Location:
Speaker:
Chris Holland
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Synopsis:
Silks are biological polymers that have evolved to be processed by controlled protein denaturation, a process depending on the researchers’ background, with similarities to amyloidogenesis for some and flow induced crystallisation for others. However whilst many attempts have been made to replicate silk, none have succeeded. This may be in part because it is not structure but processing that defines a silk, for unlike all other biological materials they are spun, not grown. I will provide an overview of Natures 400 million years of R&D into silk and our recent studies into the importance of flow processing. I will conclude there is more to silk than just a fibre and that Nature may in fact hold unique solutions to the current challenges facing the synthetic polymer industry, i.e. routes towards low embodied energy, sustainable wet processing of polymers.
Biography:
Chris is based in The University of Sheffield in the Materials Science and Engineering Department and is head of the Natural Materials Group where he currently holds an EPSRCEarly Career Fellowship having previously worked in the Oxford Silk Group in Zoology, Oxford. His research uses tools developed for the physical sciences to better understand Nature’s materials, from latex to collagen, but with a focus on silk. By studying how silk is spun he has been able to gain unique insights into silks’ biodiversity, structure and evolution. Additionally, this work has made important links between natural and industrial fibre processing which has led to a fundamentally new way of designing, testing and fabricating bio-inspired materials. Outside of the lab he is an Associate Editor for ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, and sits on the committee of the Natural Materials Association.